diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/fixtures/components.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/fixtures/components.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..479078f6dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/fixtures/components.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { TestFixture } from '@playwright/test';
+import { PlaywrightArgs } from '../types';
+import { Components } from '../models/Components';
+
+type ComponentsFixture = TestFixture<Components, PlaywrightArgs>;
+
+export const components: ComponentsFixture = async (
+  { request, page, selectors, grafanaVersion },
+  use,
+  testInfo
+) => {
+  await use(new Components({ page, selectors, grafanaVersion, request, testInfo }));
+};
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/index.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/index.ts
index ab636c28ca..2db5341673 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/index.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
   A11yViolationsOptions,
 } from './types';
 import { annotationEditPage } from './fixtures/annotationEditPage';
+import { components } from './fixtures/components';
 import { grafanaAPIClient } from './fixtures/grafanaAPIClient';
 import { createDataSource } from './fixtures/commands/createDataSource';
 import { createDataSourceConfigPage } from './fixtures/commands/createDataSourceConfigPage';
@@ -62,7 +63,9 @@ import { toHavePanelErrors } from './matchers/toHavePanelErrors';
 import { DashboardPage } from './models/pages/DashboardPage';
 
 // models
+export { Components } from './models/Components';
 export { DataSourcePicker } from './models/components/DataSourcePicker';
+export { ScopedComponent } from './models/components/ScopedComponent';
 export { Panel } from './models/components/Panel';
 export { TimeRange } from './models/components/TimeRange';
 export { AnnotationEditPage } from './models/pages/AnnotationEditPage';
@@ -120,6 +123,7 @@ export const test = testWithInternal.extend<PluginFixture, PluginOptions>({
   gotoVariablePage,
   gotoAnnotationEditPage,
   gotoAlertRuleEditPage,
+  components,
   gotoDataSourceConfigPage,
   gotoAppConfigPage,
   gotoAppPage,
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/Components.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/Components.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9252b7aa01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/Components.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { PluginTestCtx } from '../types';
+import { DataSourcePicker } from './components/DataSourcePicker';
+import { TimeRange } from './components/TimeRange';
+
+/**
+ * Factory for components that are not attached to a specific page.
+ *
+ * Use this when you need to interact with a Grafana UI component on a page
+ * that is not covered by one of the page fixtures (e.g. {@link PanelEditPage}
+ * or {@link ExplorePage}).
+ *
+ * To scope a component to a sub-tree of the DOM, use `within(root)`:
+ *
+ * @example
+ * ```typescript
+ * await components.dataSourcePicker.set('prom');
+ * await components.dataSourcePicker.within(panel).set('prom');
+ * ```
+ */
+export class Components {
+  readonly dataSourcePicker: DataSourcePicker;
+  readonly timeRangePicker: TimeRange;
+
+  constructor(ctx: PluginTestCtx) {
+    this.dataSourcePicker = new DataSourcePicker(ctx);
+    this.timeRangePicker = new TimeRange(ctx);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/DataSourcePicker.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/DataSourcePicker.ts
index 816a18708d..4d3d39b8e5 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/DataSourcePicker.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/DataSourcePicker.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,8 @@
 import * as semver from 'semver';
-import { Locator, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { PluginTestCtx } from '../../types';
-import { GrafanaPage } from '../pages/GrafanaPage';
-
-export class DataSourcePicker extends GrafanaPage {
-  constructor(
-    ctx: PluginTestCtx,
-    private root?: Locator
-  ) {
-    super(ctx);
-  }
+import { expect } from '@playwright/test';
+import { ScopedComponent } from './ScopedComponent';
 
+export class DataSourcePicker extends ScopedComponent {
   /**
    * Sets the data source picker to the provided name
    */
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/ScopedComponent.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/ScopedComponent.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b4be3a66da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/ScopedComponent.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { Locator } from '@playwright/test';
+import { PluginTestCtx } from '../../types';
+import { GrafanaPage } from '../pages/GrafanaPage';
+
+/**
+ * Base class for components that live at the page level but can optionally
+ * be scoped to a sub-tree of the DOM via `within()`.
+ */
+export abstract class ScopedComponent extends GrafanaPage {
+  constructor(
+    ctx: PluginTestCtx,
+    protected readonly root?: Locator
+  ) {
+    super(ctx);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a new instance of this component scoped to the given root locator.
+   * Mirrors Playwright's `locator.locator(...)` chaining pattern.
+   */
+  within(root: Locator): this {
+    const Ctor = this.constructor as new (ctx: PluginTestCtx, root?: Locator) => this;
+    return new Ctor(this.ctx, root);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/TimeRange.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/TimeRange.ts
index 80aa68d2b3..41bcf58f34 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/TimeRange.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/components/TimeRange.ts
@@ -1,19 +1,15 @@
 import * as semver from 'semver';
-import { PluginTestCtx, TimeRangeArgs } from '../../types';
-import { GrafanaPage } from '../pages/GrafanaPage';
-
-export class TimeRange extends GrafanaPage {
-  constructor(ctx: PluginTestCtx) {
-    super(ctx);
-  }
+import { TimeRangeArgs } from '../../types';
+import { ScopedComponent } from './ScopedComponent';
 
+export class TimeRange extends ScopedComponent {
   /**
    * Opens the time picker and sets the time range to the provided values
    */
   async set({ from, to, zone }: TimeRangeArgs) {
     const { TimeZonePicker, TimePicker, Select } = this.ctx.selectors.components;
     try {
-      await this.getByGrafanaSelector(TimePicker.openButton).click();
+      await this.getByGrafanaSelector(TimePicker.openButton, { root: this.root }).click();
     } catch (e) {
       // seems like in older versions of Grafana the time picker markup is rendered twice
       await this.ctx.page.locator('[aria-controls="TimePickerContent"]').last().click();
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/pages/DashboardPage.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/pages/DashboardPage.ts
index 6b8f55d474..248c2da104 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/pages/DashboardPage.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/models/pages/DashboardPage.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,23 @@ export class DashboardPage extends GrafanaPage {
     return super.navigate(url, options);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns a locator for the dashboard toolbar area that contains the time range controls.
+   *
+   * - Grafana ≥ 11.1.0: resolves to `Dashboard.Controls` (scenes-based dashboard controls bar)
+   * - Grafana 9.4.0–11.0.x: resolves to `NavToolbar.container`
+   * - Grafana < 9.4.0: falls back to `.page-toolbar`
+   */
+  get toolbar() {
+    const { components, pages } = this.ctx.selectors;
+    if (semver.gte(this.ctx.grafanaVersion, '11.1.0')) {
+      return this.getByGrafanaSelector(pages.Dashboard.Controls);
+    }
+    return semver.gte(this.ctx.grafanaVersion, '9.4.0')
+      ? this.getByGrafanaSelector(components.NavToolbar.container)
+      : this.ctx.page.locator('.page-toolbar');
+  }
+
   /**
    * Scrolls the page viewport-by-viewport to trigger below-fold panel queries.
    *
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/types.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/types.ts
index 13474be2e0..9a50bd8556 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-e2e/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/src/types.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { AlertRuleEditPage } from './models/pages/AlertRuleEditPage';
 import { AnnotationEditPage } from './models/pages/AnnotationEditPage';
 import { AppConfigPage } from './models/pages/AppConfigPage';
 import { AppPage } from './models/pages/AppPage';
+import { Components } from './models/Components';
 import { DashboardPage } from './models/pages/DashboardPage';
 import { DataSourceConfigPage } from './models/pages/DataSourceConfigPage';
 import { ExplorePage } from './models/pages/ExplorePage';
@@ -433,6 +434,22 @@ export type PluginFixture = {
    * You can use this in conjunction with the .toHaveNoA11yViolations matcher to assert that there are no accessibility violations on the page.
    */
   scanForA11yViolations: (context?: AxeScanContext) => Promise<AxeResults>;
+
+  /**
+   * Factory for components that are not attached to a specific page.
+   *
+   * Use this fixture to interact with a Grafana UI component on a page that is
+   * not covered by other page fixtures (e.g. {@link PanelEditPage} or {@link ExplorePage}).
+   *
+   * @example
+   * ```typescript
+   * test('my test', async ({ components }) => {
+   *   await components.dataSourcePicker.set('gdev-prometheus');
+   *   await components.dataSourcePicker.within(someLocator).set('gdev-tempo');
+   * });
+   * ```
+   */
+  components: Components;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/plugin-e2e/tests/as-admin-user/components/components.spec.ts b/packages/plugin-e2e/tests/as-admin-user/components/components.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..af78d305d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugin-e2e/tests/as-admin-user/components/components.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { expect, test } from '../../../src';
+
+test('components.dataSourcePicker should set the data source', async ({
+  panelEditPage,
+  components,
+  readProvisionedDataSource,
+}) => {
+  const ds = await readProvisionedDataSource({ fileName: 'testdatasource.yaml' });
+  await components.dataSourcePicker.set(ds.name);
+  await expect(panelEditPage.getQueryEditorRow('A').getByRole('textbox', { name: 'Query Text' })).toBeVisible();
+});
+
+test('components.dataSourcePicker.within should set the data source when scoped to a root locator', async ({
+  panelEditPage,
+  components,
+  readProvisionedDataSource,
+  selectors,
+}) => {
+  const ds = await readProvisionedDataSource({ fileName: 'testdatasource.yaml' });
+  const root = panelEditPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.PanelEditor.General.content);
+  await components.dataSourcePicker.within(root).set(ds.name);
+  await expect(panelEditPage.getQueryEditorRow('A').getByRole('textbox', { name: 'Query Text' })).toBeVisible();
+});
+
+test('components.timeRangePicker should set the time range', async ({
+  panelEditPage,
+  components,
+  selectors,
+}) => {
+  await components.timeRangePicker.set({ from: '2020-01-01 00:00:00', to: '2020-01-02 00:00:00' });
+  // older Grafana versions render the time picker twice, so we use .first() to avoid strict mode violations
+  const openButton = panelEditPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.TimePicker.openButton).first();
+  await expect(openButton).toContainText('2020-01-01 00:00:00');
+});
+
+test('components.timeRangePicker.within should set the time range when scoped to a root locator', async ({
+  gotoDashboardPage,
+  readProvisionedDashboard,
+  components,
+  selectors,
+}) => {
+  const dashboard = await readProvisionedDashboard({ fileName: 'testdatasource.json' });
+  const dashboardPage = await gotoDashboardPage(dashboard);
+  await components.timeRangePicker.within(dashboardPage.toolbar).set({ from: '2020-01-01 00:00:00', to: '2020-01-02 00:00:00' });
+  const openButton = dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.TimePicker.openButton).first();
+  await expect(openButton).toContainText('2020-01-01 00:00:00');
+});