Thats a shame but as I say Im in the same boat as you. One final quick point to make is that after researching this by visiting literally hundreds of pages on the topic, I see that some US customers were sent a letter by BMW for a recall on this part for 04-06 models.

Would be great if BMW replaced this free of charge for us if its subject to recall. Perhaps its just wishful thinking, but I called BMW and they are checking it out with head office in the UK and supposedly will get back to me.

Worth a try I suppose before I go down the Parrot route.