Something along the lines of a way to specify in config the menu structure, possible like below:

$config['bep_am']['structure'] = array(
 'backendpro_dashboard',

 '-',

 'backendpro_system' => array(
   'backendpro_members',
   'backendpro_access_control',
   'backendpro_settings'
 )
);

and properties:

$config['bep_am']['items'] = array(

 'backendpro_dashboard' => array(
   'uri'   => 'admin',
   'icon'  => 'house',
   'resource' => null
 ),
...

and in application\views\admin\menu.php I just do following code:

<? print $this->bep_amg->render(); ?>