I lift the steel square beam to the rear of the differential. I built an adapter out of a 4x4 and a little bracket that holds it in place in that spot. So basically, the 4x4 adapter sits on the jack, and the top of the 4x4 contacts the square beam on the x5. Very secure, and the 4x4 gets me an extra 3.5 inches of lift.

I similarly built something for the front central jack point - with a M12 bolt going through the hole in the x5's central jacking point, to keep it centered.

It took a little effort when I built these things, but that has paid off many times with easy and secure central lifting. Yes, for simplicity and safety, I almost always lift centrally and use jack stands on both sides, front or rear, but not both at the same time.

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2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014