BMW's New X5 Comes With a Box You Can't Untick

The G65 X5 just hit European configurators, but early orders must include the 950-euro Individual Clear & Bold package. BMW plans to lift the requirement around December.

Author: Daria Kashirina

16:49 05-07-2026

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The new BMW X5 G65 has only just landed in European configurators, yet it already comes with a curious quirk for early buyers. For now, the SUV can't be ordered without the Individual Clear & Bold package: the option costs 950 euros and is added to every build automatically.

BMW expects to drop this restriction around December. The choice of versions is limited at launch, too. Right now you can pick the X5 40 xDrive and 40d xDrive, while the plug-in hybrids and the electric variant should appear in early October. The base diesel starts at 95,750 euros in Germany, but the price should ease slightly towards the end of the year — right when buyers will finally be allowed to skip the controversial trim package.

Individual Clear & Bold is interesting for more than just being forced on every early car. BMW says the X5 is the first production vehicle with real slate in the cabin. A thin layer of stone runs along the lower part of the centre console, around the control panel. Touch buttons for the parking brake, hazard lights and rear-window defrost are built straight into the slate. This isn't a printed texture: the surface is meant to feel uneven, with the natural grain of the material.

The slate is paired with crystal glass elements. The gear selector and the volume roller on the centre console are made from it. Glass also shows up on the door panels, where the seat-adjustment controls sit.

There's a practical upside here. A matte stone surface shouldn't collect fingerprints the way glossy black plastic does — the material that has annoyed owners of modern cars for years. But there's a flip side: if a buyer dislikes stone in the interior, or simply doesn't want to pay 950 euros for the trim, there's almost no choice right now. It looks like BMW is testing the market's reaction to bolder materials before expanding the idea.

A new X7 is expected in 2027, and it's easy to picture the same slate-and-crystal-glass combination in the bigger SUV. For early X5 owners, this is a rare case where premium personalisation begins not with a choice, but with a checkbox you can't yet untick.