xwedge,
I thought it was muddy with lousy imaging as well -- until I changed the audio source to BT from my iPhone. The difference was not subtle if you have a well encoded audio file on your BT device (over 256k). The audio quality from the CD drive is crappy -- hence my comments about...
In a past life, I engineered over 200 albums and have a couple dozen gold/platinum awards in my office. I've spent thousands of hours listening to music and evaluating speakers.
I find that the Bose is one of the best implementations of a car stereo we've had yet. The imaging is fantastic...
Fellow americans: don't worry. Having had similar interfaces in our previous BMW and Mini, I do not miss having an "i-drive" at all. The touchscreen is much more simple and faster to operate.
re: Clicking Sound: Transit Bolts?
We have not experienced this problem with our car. I wonder if there's some sort of shipping/restraining bolt which the dealership missed when they prepared the car for delivery? Might be best to bring this to your dealer for a look.