I used to have a BM 6500 and a MX 7000 (2 way) connected, i never used anything else than my BeoLink 5000 remote.
E.g. you can't program the light on/off with the MCP6500. That is available with the BeoLink 5000, and I guess with the 7000 but never had one.
I also often used the BL 5000 to program the VX7000 from link rooms, so it has a lot of capabilities.
/MikaelB