I share your sentiment. Although what they've done is clever and makes sense in the drawing room, it's always a mistake to design something so that a major piece (like a headlight) has to be replaced because of a problem with a smaller component.

After I'd done it, it was clear that the trick is to lower the spring before withdrawing the turn light. But the intuitive thing to do is raise it.

Thanks for the suggestion but I'll pass on the epoxy. At the least it requires removing the headlight assembly and I'm not confident of the repair. I'm considering using a second spring to attach the retainer spring to an anchor point. Then everytime I see it I'll be reminded to be more careful next time. These cars have more fragile plastic parts than I'm used to and I've broken a few.