Thanks for the comments!

Despite its reputation as a family grocery hauler, I am finding that the E53 performs really well in a wide range of conditions despite the lack of advanced tech that came in the later E70/F15/G05 models. It seems that BMW got a lot right with the E53.

I'll have another opportunity to get off road in two weeks. I just got the towing system installed so I'll post up something on that this week.