I found a few old links with this same question, dating back 2008 or so. Now I had the same question in 2016.

But, as I was writing a post to ask the question, I found the solution, and felt I should share it to others who may want to do the same thing.

What I was trying to do:

I want to ungroup QTY in the BOM. So, if I have two instances of a single file, I want to show as two separate line items.

Solution I stumbled upon:

(This requires that a unique designator, "Component Reference" has been added to each part in the Assy. To do so, in the Assy Tree, RC a component and select Properties. Enter Component Reference: in the appropriate field)

For more on Unique Assy Identifiers (i.e.Component Reference) see: 2016 SOLIDWORKS Help - Component Properties Dialog Box

In your drawing, Create your BOM.

Make sure there is an "Item No." Column. If not, create one.

Change the column property for the "Item No." Column to "Component Reference"

QTY should fill down as all 1 and add extra lines for the grouped items.

The Reason I want to do this:

I'm showing a PCBA layout of connector headers. Balloons show the "Component Reference" (e.g. J1, J2, J3)

In the BOM, I show "Component Reference" in place of "Item #".