Chinese copies can be bought new off eBay for under £40. Not OEM, but their reliability seems equal/better to their BMW counterparts. My £35 eBay item has been on the car for about half a year and hasn't cracked.
Or use it as a perfect excuse to buy my PCBs for custom 3rd brake light once I've finished everything :lol:
When you're at the point of replacing it, you can't make it any worse so to speak - if plastic cracks trying to swap led strip then just bin it and go with original plan ha