Just thought it was an interesting topic, so googled around a bit for actual sources.

First of all, some (or maybe all) BMW's actively recommend [NOT rotating tyres][1]. Cartalk covered this in one of their shows, and here are the most notable quotes:

> TOM: We've always felt that tire rotation is of marginal value in terms of saving you money. Why? Because the cost of tire rotation roughly equals the amount you'd save by extending your tire life.
>
> RAY: You can see why mechanics like it. Not only is it an easy few bucks for us, but it also gets your car into the shop again so we can sell you other services -- like engine flushes and fuzzy-dice reupholstering!

So that might explain the reason for it's popularity in the USA.

Regarding BMW they say

> TOM: BMW cites safety because the front and rear tires develop different wear patterns. And for at least a little while -- until the wear evens out, which is the point of tire rotation -- you might have slightly inferior handling with newly rotated tires.

 They argue to only do it if the car is already having other maintance which requires taking the wheels off. Unlike BMW they believe that rotating tyres is a good thing, just not worth the money or trouble by itself:

> TOM: So, our feeling has always been that if the tire rotation is free, do it. In other words, if you're having your brakes checked, and the wheels are already off the car and your mechanic is nice enough to put them back on different wheels for nothing, then do it. That's what we do for our customers.

and

> TOM: Still, we see nothing wrong with rotating your tires. No harm will be done, in our opinion. But if you're paying your BMW mechanic $125 an hour to move your tires around (and eight bucks a wheel for rebalancing, too), it's very unlikely you'll save any money in the long run, Larry.

Sadly I wasn't able to find any actual studies. Maybe it's worth posting on skeptics.SE, there are a lot of experts there when it comes to finding (obscure) studies. Still I feel like this source draws from a bit more authority than anything else I could find.

  [1]: https://www.cartalk.com/content/owners-manual-my-bmw-i-says