has anyone here legally stayed in the Schengen zone for more than 90 days by using bilateral agreements?

Apparently certain countries have bilateral agreements (search page for 'bilateral agreements') that will allow certain foreign nationals to stay longer than 90 days in the Schengen zone, provided these foreigners remain in the country in question. For example, US citizens can technically stay in France for 90 days regardless of how long they've been in the Schengen zone (allowing you to stay elsewhere for 89 days, then in France for 90). Poland and Denmark also have such bilateral agreements with the US.

However at least in the case of France, actually making use of the law (which precedes the Schengen agreement but remains on the books) seems a bit dicey because the absence of border controls within Schengen means there's no official way to know how long someone's been in France. Thus applying it remains up to the discretion of the border police.

I'm wondering if anyone's had experience using these agreements.