utterly disgraceful mate....i would certainly not let this matter drop (as im sure you are not going to either).
it appauls me how some of these supposed main dealers treat customers...to put it into perspective my dad has a 330d coupe (bout 12 months old now) but he wasnt happy with the handling and said it didnt feel right compared to another car he had driven.
the bmw engineer agreed and replaced the entire suspension of the car. struts, shocks, springs, bushes...absolutely everything plus 2 days labour all FOC.
Its something ill think about more carefully when changing cars in the future.