Feast your eyes on one of 2011's most important, and exciting, new cars. Hardly a day since some pictures of the new BMW Concept M5 leaked onto the internet, BMW has made it all official - releasing the information and some nice studio shots.
Judging by the amount of technical detail that BMW has divulged about this 'concept' car, there's no doubt that this is practically the spitting image of the 'production' model that will be revealed later this year. That, and the fact that if the street version was to be any more subtle than this, it would hardly befit its M badge.
Yes, the styling is hardly outrageous, but it still carries all the M-Power design motifs you'd expect and the black 20-inch wheels are an interesting addition, although the production M5 may get a more conventional hue.
The big change is beneath the bonnet, where the new M5 swops its 373kW naturally aspirated V10 for a TwinPower force-fed V8 that BMW also describes as high-revving, while assuring that it still has that characteristic 'M' feeling.
We'll have to wait a little longer to find out the power and torque outputs but BMW does admit that it's significantly more powerful than the current one and (you guessed it) a lot more efficient - consumption and emissions having been reduced by over 25 percent.
The V8 channels its power through a seven-speed M double-clutch transmission with Drivelogic technology.
As for the chassis, it boasts "newly designed and elaborated suspension components, which have been refined down to the last detail, ensure that the driver is able to make full use of the engine's outstanding power development."
Exclusive M suspension components include, inter alia, the wheel suspension systems, specific axle kinematics as well as exceptionally effective and weight-optimised brakes.
What's more, the Active M Differential optimises vehicle stability using targeted variation of locking torque between the right and left drive wheels.
More specific details will no doubt be presented in the run-up to its launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September. It arrives in South Africa this November.