SPY PICS: Mercedes-AMG E 63 breaks cover

These are the first images of Mercedes-AMG's brawny new E 63 super-sedan.

Based on Merc's all-new E-Class and therefore sharing the lighter new MRA (Modular Rear Architecture) platform, the next E 63 could also be the first available exclusively with 4MATIC all-wheel drive.

And it will need it, because beneath its long bonnet will be the first E-Class application of AMG's beefy twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8, which produces up to 375kW in AMG's upcoming C 63 S sports sedan and GT S supercar.

For the next E 63, however, the downsized V8 is expected to crank out at least as much as the current model's twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8, which delivers 410kW/720Nm in standard from and a ballistic 430kW/800Nm in the S version sold in Australia.

Like those models, the next E 63's feisty new 209kg M178 V8 will incorporate a pair of turbos nestled between the cylinder-heads and a dry sump to cope with the extreme braking and cornering forces its answer to the BMW M5 will generate.

Wrapped in the curvy new bodyshell of the new E-Class, which is also pictured here in latest spy shots, the AMG version will of course also feature quad exhaust outlets, beefier wheels, tyres and brakes, and a chunky body kit, as evidenced by these covert images.

Various test mules of the new E 63 have been spied before, but this is the first time Automedia shooters have snapped a prototype of AMG's next-gen large sedan, which appears close to production ready.

Thanks to the new C-Class-derived, aluminium-intensive MRA platform, the new E 63 will not only be lighter and more torsionally rigid than before, it will ride on a longer wheelbase that liberates more cabin space, especially for rear-seat occupants. Mercedes says the new E-Class will also feature more autonomous driving technologies than BMW's new 7 Series limousine flagship.

Most speculation insists the next Benz E-Class and AMG E 63 won't be revealed until next year, but we wouldn't be surprised if at least the mainstream model takes a bow at the Frankfurt motor show this September, alongside world debuts of the new C-Class Coupe (including the AMG C 63 Coupe) and perhaps even the C-Class Convertible.

In turn, the new E-Class sedan will be followed by regular and AMG versions of next E-Class Estate, the third-generation CLS four-door 'coupe' and Shooting Brake, and the new E-Class Coupe and Convertible, which could also spawn the first two-door E-Class AMGs -- by which time BMW will have produced new 5 Series and M5 challengers.