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For everyone�s information, I AM taking action. I contacted an attorney who initially urged me to try to work it out by talking with the dealer first, but it looks like we need to get serious now. I�ll be contacting the State Attorneys General of both NH and CT, as well as the BBB. I�m also embarking on a publicity campaign in attempt not only to resolve my issue, but also to forewarn others. I�ve already been contacted by the Boston Herald (a friend has a friend there), and I�ll be talking with other media outlets including consumer reporters at the local television stations.

Since, my original post was quite long I didn�t give you all the details (nor will I here). But I want to tell you a little bit about what�s wrong with the car and how I discovered it. And, finally, some people have been a bit critical of my position and I�d like to address some of their points.

I noticed some of the problems with the paint the weekend I bought the car, but only found out why, and the true extent of the damage, after I had a body shop look at it. Why was I in a body shop? Well, a month after I got the car it was egged (on the opposite side) so I was there to get an estimate on that repair and I asked the body shop to look at this other problem since I had already notified the dealer of problems with the paint and they agreed pay for detailing work. That�s when I found out it was a repair job, not a defect.

What�s really wrong? There is dirt in the paint on the rear quarter panel, over the top left and the door. There�s clear coat roughness on the edges. There are paint runs and over-sprays. There are fish eyes. Finally the door does not fit correctly. This was on a cursory examination. I will get a more detailed examination later. In any case the body shop described it as very unprofessional; they said MAACO would have done a much better job. They didn�t even bother to remove the trim when they �fixed� it.

For everyone�s information, I fully take responsibility for any damage done while in my possession and that if I returned the car the egg damage would be fixed correctly. I would not consider it fair for the dealer to take responsibility for this damage and I disclosed this to them- a courtesy I wish that was extended to me.

Here are of some of the negative comments (in essence) I received and my responses:

1) It�s your own fault; you should have inspected the car better before you accepted it.

Well, obviously, in retrospect I wish I had been more vigilant. But, frankly, I didn�t expect to have to check for what seems to me to be a case of fraud.

I test drove another car initially, and since the dealer is a bit of a drive from my home I put down the deposit on this one over the phone. I told the salesperson that I wanted to inspect the car before delivery, but when I showed up at the agreed time it was a rainy day and (strangely) one of the service guys had gone home with the keys so I couldn�t drive it. When I went to pickup the car it was an overcast day and the car was in a sheltered area, so I didn�t notice the problem.

I did notice some problems with the paint, including swirl marks that weekend. I attributed the swirl marks to a bad prep job and thought the paint problems (the ones I initially noticed) might have been due to the use of water-based paints at the factory. I notified the dealer quickly of the swirl marks, thinking that some of the other defects might be mitigated by detailing at the same time the swirl marks were removed. The dealer was unable to get rid of the swirl marks, in fact they caused more problems than they solved.

There were other flaws too, but I�m a realist. No car is perfect and I think it is unreasonable to expect perfection. Of course, I�m not a body shop person so it took a professional to point out all the other things I didn�t notice immediately.

Point 1: I�m not entirely sure that a keying is really what happened to the car, or that that was the extent of the damage. First, as I have described, there are other problems with the car, including an ill-fitting door (small water leaks around the window) on the repainted side (don�t even get me started on the wrong in-dash A/C unit or the bad alignment on delivery). It�s not prima facia evidence, but I�m suspicious. Second, Girard not only slipped this past my dealer, but wouldn�t �fess up� when the factory rep called (he actually had to physically visit them and investigate). So, I have very little confidence that they�re telling the truth now or that their records are accurate. Honestly, who knows what really happened to this car?

Point 2: If this was a factory defect I could understand. If I noticed a scratch due to transport problems (even after I took possession) I could understand. I�d want them fixed, but I could understand. What I CANNOT sanction, by my acquiescence, is this INTENTIONAL deception.

Yes, from what I�ve been told BMW did not damage the car. But, I think it is reasonable to expect that an authorized BMW dealer would have to maintain some standards enforced by BMWNA and that BMWNA would stand behind the quality of new cars delivered to consumers.

Is it BMWNA�s position that problems like this that happen at their authorized dealers is none of their concern? Are they saying that their customers are the dealers and consumers are the dealer�s customers and that�s the extent of our relationship? If so, I think this is short-sighted, but consumers should be aware of BMWNA�s position.

What if a dealer was systematically stripping new cars for factory parts and inserting inferior third party parts and selling the cars to consumers? What if a dealer had a policy of not disclosing known damage to consumers? At what point will BMW step in and exert some influence?

Finally, I think this case is even more problematic for a consumer. This car was damaged at a dealer that I�ve never had any dealings with, nor had even heard of before this incident. Does BMW take ANY responsibility for their dealer network?

First, when two parties enter into a legal agreement or contract it is required that both parties put all substantial facts on the table as part of the execution of the agreement. Anything less is fraud.

Third, the value of a car that is damaged is immediately less than the value of one that is not damaged.

Fourth, and this is not insignificant, the amount of time I�ve had to spend on this has been substantial. I work as a consultant, so my time is money. I�ve lost thousands of dollars, not to mention sleep.

Finally, we all pay a premium for BMW�s and we know it. We don�t buy BMW�s because they are the most economical cars or they make financial sense. We buy them because we enjoy driving. Now, every time I get into this car I�m reminded about how I got screwed; I no longer enjoy driving.

In conclusion, I know these posts are long and I regret anyone finds it too verbose or off-topic. In addition, I have reluctantly posted this across the message board forums for new vehicles. For those of you in forums other than the E46 forum that don�t want to see this I apologize and if you believe I should stop cross posting please let me know. But, I honestly feel that this is an issue of concern to owners of any new BMW or those considering a purchase in the near future.

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