Yeah the lights are a common issue as i'm sure you know by now, you can actually fix them but it's a bit of a faff taking them apart.
I just replaced my vanos solinoid o'rings, it runs much better now and doesn't rattle as much on startup, in fact most of the time it doen't make a noise at all depending on the temperature. Didn't even realise they were
that bad until I undid the covers and pressurised oil was inside the dust cover casing where the board was, prooves the seals were fooked, I also found a broken wire on one of the boards so I fixed that as well.
Just bought the parts to fix the steering as it's really vague, going to replace the centre tie rod, both track rod ends, and the idler arm bush as well as the top mounts so I should notice a massive imporvment as I hate how sloppy the steering has become.
You're 100% right though on every point, there's nothing on the market that will touch it for the money. Let me know how you get on with the bulbs, I upgraded mine a couple of years ago but they weren't anything that fancy, still better than the awful standard ones though
Wow just editing this to say how good that pic is!!!!! Love it!