I flew out of LHR twice with BD last week. Checked in during the morning peak in less than 90 seconds from joining the non-existent queue, to leaving with my BP and baggage receipt.
I was travelling on standard economy tickets and didn't need to use the *G queue either.
Of course, I was checking in at Paddington and not T1 - despite the GBP25 rip-off return ticket, I really value this service from the perspective of saving stress and aggro.