Tail docking should be banned :wink:
The external twig acts as the FM2 diversity receiver (covers part of the FM band width unavailable on the bumper aerial) it's only used for certain wavelengths & signal qualities so may not be noticed depending on the channel and where you are. But if BMW could have got away with a cheap tiddler I'm sure they would have and several members have regretted the swap. Still at least it's reversible.