I use it once in a while - either while driving in the mountains when I need to hold a gear, or when I'm merging on the highway and I'm stuck behind some slowpoke numbskull so I can have the tranny in 2nd and ready to blow by as soon I get a chance.

My big issue with the E53 and E46 steptronic is they don't blip the throttle on downshifts, and shifts are really slow. That's all supposed to be addressed in the new E90 tranny, so if those improvements carry over to the X5 then paddle shifters would actually be useful with the auto.