BMW is set to introduce its four-wheel-drive M5, due to make its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September before going on sale in international markets.

The new M5 will be powered by a reworked version of the outgoing fifth-generation model’s twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine, producing upwards of 600hp, along with a standard eight-speed automatic gearbox.

The four-wheel-drive model is described by senior BMW officials as not only the most powerful and fastest accelerating one, but also the most dynamically capable and technically advanced M5 yet.

BMW senior vice-president, Hildegard Wortmann, told our sister publication, Autocar UK, last month that the model will be as significant as the latest 7-series in defining the next generation of performance models. He explained that, in the same way that the 7-series has set the agenda for upcoming driverless technology, the new M5 will represent the next generation of M-branded cars.

The newest member of M division’s line-up will challenge the new 611hp, 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8-powered Mercedes-AMG E63 S 4Matic and the successor to today’s 568hp twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8-powered Audi RS6, which is planned for introduction in international markets next year.

The car will feature a re-engineered body structure with a number of weight-saving initiatives, including greater use of aluminium and hot-formed high-strength steel as well as carbon fibre for the roof and boot lid. It is claimed to weigh close to the 1,870kg of its predecessor despite a moderate increase in its exterior dimensions and the inclusion of the four-wheel-drive hardware.

Visually, the new M5 is set apart from other current 5-series models by extensively restyled bumpers, an altered kidney grille design, wider front wings with chromed vent elements behind the front wheel arches to extract hot air from the engine bay, M-specific mirror housings, wider sills, a prominent rear diffuser element and signature quad chromed tailpipes.