Originally Posted by xx3

PeteM is right.

All iDrive cars without nav have skinny screens - in the U.S. Take a look at a 5, 6 or 7 without nav (impossible on the 7 in the u.s. market as all 7's have nav standard)...

Technically we get BMW professional navigation here in the u.s - hence the large screen. In other markets you can get nav on a small screen and thats called BMW business nav which has reduced functionality - an option we don't have in the states.

So bottom line... If you get nav on an E70 in the U.S. market you get the big 8" screen. If you don't you get the 5.5" screen shown here.