...I got the new shim from the dealer - part 202 263 04 52 => 0.9mm shim which replaced the other ones for the lay shaft in the front cap to give a clearance that is back to the 0.05mm spec (see previous posts for data).
You can no longer feel any shaft movement between the bearing cups with the intermediate plate fitted but the bearings spin freely!
Because of the evidence of bearing cups spinning in the casing
I'm using a glue to hold them in place.
I knocked out the bearing cups again - well lifted them most of the way out with my fingers - and then set to work sealing the front cover.
You are meant to use a jointing compound (that I don't have) to make the screw threads leak proof. For the sake of all things German I decided to use Permatex Black RTV and just get on with my life (and stop this incessant shopping).
Wipe off the excess on both sides of the cover (whether you use the correct stuff or the RTV or what ever you choose)
EDIT - guess who forgot a bit?
Put this on as well!
Don't forget the shims. They can be installed when the cover has been fitted...
If you are doing this by the book the bearing cups and shims would already be in place. What I'm showing here is potentially a little dodgy but I think I'm making a suitable compromise between leaving the cups as they are and doing a proper job. If anyone revisits these bearing cups after me they might need to use a hydraulic press to get the cups out but other than that hopefully my choice of using glue now won't cause too much trouble...
...this is not advisable - once these cups are glued in place the distance between the cups is fixed - you can no longer adjust with shims (unless you strip the cups out again of course)
After applying a continuous thin bead of glue around the bearing cup I made sure the bearing cups were seated in the correct position on top of the shims <= you don't want to mess that up!
I'm leaving them over night to set before I start oiling up the inside of the gearbox and start putting the shafts back in.