Originally Posted by Penguin

I wonder if any of these issues with DEF replenishment, light switch replacement, etc. is a dealer, vs. BMW NA, issue. Service and warranty claims are a bit like health insurance claims in that it often makes a difference how they are worded and coded.

And some dealers are sometimes creative when it comes to keeping their customers happy, e.g., when they replace the light switch due to a knob issue, they may file their claim as a defective light switch, rather than a cosmetic knob issue. My understanding is that most defective parts are not returned to BMW NA, but are kept for a period of time so that BMW NA can audit the warranty work, e.g., a dealer could claim the switch is defective, keep the customer happy, and take the risk a random audit of replaced parts will not catch them.

Now, I do not know for sure that BMW takes this approach; however, when I worked for an auto company years ago, that was the approach they took, since sending every defective part back for inspection was seen as a waste of money, and random auditing of warranty work was seen as more cost-effective to keep the dealers honest.