Drawing cues from the 7 Series, the 5 Series' climate-control readouts use BMW's Black Panel technology to appear out of dark panels without the brightened look of traditional electroluminescent displays. Traditional console-mounted cupholders replace the ones that flipped out of the dashboard. Get the optional navigation system, and the dash gets a massive 10.2-inch center display with PC-like 1280-by-480 pixel resolution. Without navigation, the display still sorts through various audio and setup menus, but it shrinks to a 7-inch display and 800-by-480 pixel resolution. Both setups incorporate BMW's iDrive system.

Standard features include 10-way power front seats and a power tilt/telescoping steering column. A 60/40-split folding rear seat is optional.