[5] Initially opened as East Brighton, the station was given its current name of Bentleigh on 1 May 1907.

[5] Bentleigh station opened on 19 December 1881, when the railway line from Caulfield was extended to Mordialloc.

[5] In 1974, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the former Centre Road level crossing, which was located at the down end of the station.

[12] Bentleigh was one of the stations set to receive funding through the Morrison government's controversial Commuter Car Park Scheme, where funding was allocated to stations without consultation with local councils, and which the Auditor-General labelled "pork-barrelling".

[13][14] As of 2021, City of Glen Eira was starting community consultation over the proposal, with concerns that the funding was "tainted".