that's strange, because according to the BMW press release:

"The new BMW X5 is the first vehicle in its class to offer Active Steering as an option."

unless it was 'standard' on the 2006... but i didn't tihnk so. anyhow, i also just learned that active steering will actually help with over or understeer situations and turn the wheel accordingly... i didn't realize that... since the dealer just said it was for parking. lol. so, based on that new info... seems like it's worth it.