The manual transmissions in BMWs seem to be pretty much bullet proof, so short of gross abuse, something isn't right here. One question though, when you say the car is "new," do you mean new to you (previous owner) or new as in being a 2008 or 2009 model year car? (The 318d ES designation isn't known in the US.) I imagine someone must have checked for leakage in the clutch fluid, and what about the throwout bearing? This is quite out of the ordinary.