2016 Residence Card EEA FM2: Processing time + passport back

Hi,
I've applied for a residence card in Aug 2016 and am wondering how long it's been taking for the EEA FM2 Residence Card to be issued.

My current timeline is:

18 Aug: application sent via 1st class mail (NO letter from HO to acknowledge receipt)
11 Sep: HO sends request for biometric data
22 Sep: Certificate of Application issued by HO

Next step...??

A friend had her EEA FM2 RC issued in 2 months in 2014, and another had it refused after 6 months waiting in 2015-16.

I'm about to apply to have my passport returned so I can travel in case of emergency (as I read this process alone can be lengthy, beyond the current 10 working days as sometimes one must request it 2-3 times). On the online form it says it can take longer for the RC to be processed if documents are returned, so I wonder to which extent it really does have an impact on the whole application?

Has anyone else been through the EEA FM2 RC process/ returned documents recently who could shed light on?

Cheers

We applied around around July 20 and received the residence cards today, February 1 (it's our first application for a 5-year residence card after we arrived in the UK under an EEA family permit in June). So the processing time was slightly more than 6 months.

Not sure if it was any factor in the processing time, but last week, when the 6 months were over I called the Home Office at 0300-123-2253 (select option 2). They will entertain your call only if your application is over 6 months (counting from the time they took the payment). The operator took my information and said someone would call back. That happened a day later, but the person was not able to provide any information except that our case was still "under consideration". Nevertheless, 2 days after that the residence cards arrived.