MD,
I wasn't specifically singling you out. I was just saying in general. It sometimes is hard to keep straight who is talking about E53 and who is talking about E70. ;).

And yes, the E70 does get blown around much more so than the E53 did. I don't really feel that it's bothersome though. I doubt something is seriously wrong with his specific car. Maybe he needs to adjust the tire pressure.

What?!? I find that hard to believe! My E70 doesn't even feel like a SUV on the highway. I feel like I'm driving a 5-series with a better view of the traffic in front of me.

I would have to agree with Brian on this one, mine is rock solid at freeway speeds (60 to 90) with the Y spoke wheels.

Regards,
KEF

OP prob drove thru / near a tornado, i saw on my local paper there were a few in the USA. wow the x5 IS a tank!!!

Amazing...I woulda thunk with the extra 500 lbs plus and all the new gizmos, that the E70 would drive down the road like a six engine loco.

I still think something is amiss or...
BR,mD

I don't find it bothersome at all. Sometimes, but not always (usually when windy) it will just sorta drift towards the outside of the lane, and I involuntarily twitch the wheel back. I noticed this in all the SUVs I've driven, and I don't think it impedes the driving experience at all. I've never noticed it when not on the highway though.
It's not like it is all over the road (like a very lightweight car) it feels heavy, but can be nodded in one way or the other at times. Very easy to correct, I don't even notice it when I do.

If you have active steering it makes things worse with strong side wind

Latest update I took it to the dealership yesterday and they are waiting to make sure BMW will approve/pay for the wheel alignment to see if this corrects the problem. He said more than likely they will since its under 2000 miles. I will be pissed as hell if they dont since I mentioned this problem to my sales adviser a few days after driving the vehicle around and it currently has 425 miles on her. On a side note the tech said they can flash the transmission software so it will adapt to my driving as soon as I get off the lot to get rid of the jerkyness when coming to a complete stop has anyone done this and seen an improvement? I just hate flashing the tranmission software on a brand new vehicle are there any negatives in doing this so early after purchasing my X5?

^ For the tranny, does it normally take the whole vehicle's break-in period (mileage) to learn or is it a matter of driving it a handful of times over a few weeks? What's the 'learn' time normally?

The gearbox learns over the first ~1000mi (1600km) of driving. However, in any case (at least with our cars), I don't think there should be repeated clunky downshifts.

Any software updates are good, regardless of mileage. Go for it.