[jphughan]

I don't see why a lawyer is necessary here. If your car is damaged when you pick it up, then BMW needs to fix it. I agree it's frustrating in principle to be lied to, but unless they're trying to claim that the damage is somehow your fault, that shouldn't change your ability to get the problem fixed without legal involvement. The repair manifest can say whatever it wants, but if there's still visible damage, then that's the bottom line. This is like, "Well GPS is telling me to drive across this river, so that must be right despite what my eyes are telling me."

Just get them to replace the rear diffuser, which it sounds like they're going to do, so this isn't complicated. It's not as if something major has failed (like BarryB's whole engine) or the damage in question isn't easily provable or pertains to an action that might have long-term ramifications on the car (e.g. evidence of being run hard during break-in).

If you're considering a lawyer just to find out what happened to your bumper, you won't have a case. BMW doesn't owe you an explanation of what happened, hell they might not even know themselves if the event wasn't documented somewhere. What would you possibly sue them for, and more importantly, what do you hope to get out of this? A new M5 from BMW just because your bumper and diffuser were damaged?