diff --git a/src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests/Monitoring/Ime/CmTraceLogParserTests.cs b/src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests/Monitoring/Ime/CmTraceLogParserTests.cs
index edbc885b..5af372fb 100644
--- a/src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests/Monitoring/Ime/CmTraceLogParserTests.cs
+++ b/src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests/Monitoring/Ime/CmTraceLogParserTests.cs
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Monitoring.Ime
         [InlineData("")]                                       // empty
         [InlineData("   ")]                                    // whitespace only
         [InlineData("<![LOG[truncated line with no closing")]  // truncated / missing fields
-        [InlineData("<![LOG[msg]LOG]!><time=\"06:08:04.8834397\" date=\"2-8-2026\" component=\"C\" context=\"\" type=\"1\" thread=\"1\" file=\"\">")] // leading BOM breaks the StartsWith gate
-        [InlineData("garbage prefix <![LOG[msg]LOG]!><time=\"06:08:04.8834397\" date=\"2-8-2026\" component=\"C\" context=\"\" type=\"1\" thread=\"1\" file=\"\">")] // leading junk
+        [InlineData("garbage prefix <![LOG[msg]LOG]!><time=\"06:08:04.8834397\" date=\"2-8-2026\" component=\"C\" context=\"\" type=\"1\" thread=\"1\" file=\"\">")] // leading junk (non-ignorable) fails the StartsWith gate
         public void TryParseLine_returns_false_without_throwing_for_malformed_input(string line)
         {
             var ok = CmTraceLogParser.TryParseLine(line, out var entry);
@@ -36,6 +35,24 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Monitoring.Ime
             Assert.Null(entry);
         }
 
+        // ── Leading BOM → still parses (BOM-tolerant) ────────────────────────
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void TryParseLine_parses_bom_prefixed_line()
+        {
+            // A U+FEFF BOM can prefix the first line of a freshly-opened log. It does NOT break
+            // parsing: string.StartsWith (culture-sensitive) treats U+FEFF as an ignorable
+            // character so the gate passes, and the unanchored regex matches the "<![LOG[..."
+            // body after the BOM. This pins the BOM-tolerant behaviour.
+            var line = "" + CmTraceLine("msg", "06:08:04.8834397", "2-8-2026");
+
+            var ok = CmTraceLogParser.TryParseLine(line, out var entry);
+
+            Assert.True(ok);
+            Assert.NotNull(entry);
+            Assert.Equal("msg", entry.Message);
+        }
+
         // ── Well-formed line → parses ────────────────────────────────────────
 
         [Fact]