The 2013 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG has been spied undergoing high-speed testing at the Nurburgring in Germany, giving us our first look at the updated design of Stuttgart’s super sports sedan.

As our earlier spy shots of the 2013 Mercedes E-Class wagon and coupe revealed, the refreshed German luxury car family will drop the current model’s four-piece headlight assembly for a more conventional twin-fixture layout similar to the smaller C-Class.

The images confirm the new Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG will also boast a new front grille and bumper design, a reshaped bonnet, a sleeker profile minus the current car’s chunky ‘Ponton’-style rear wheel arch, new tail-light lenses and redesigned quad exhaust outlets.

The updated E63 AMG flagship will retain its existing twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8, although power and torque are tipped to rise from their current 386kW/700Nm levels, potentially to match the 395kW/800Nm output of the SL63 AMG convertible. The seven-speed AMG Speedshift MCT automatic will carry over into the 2013 update.

International reports suggest the E63 AMG update will also benefit from a number of new technology features including an advanced forward-facing camera system to monitor the road ahead, and potentially the ‘congestion assistant’ system destined for the all-new S-Class that allows the car to follow slow-moving traffic autonomously.

Mid-life upgrades are rarely minor at Mercedes-Benz, and like the current C-Class – which gained roughly 2000 new or upgraded parts when it underwent its facelift in 2011 – the 2013 E-Class is expected to feature a significant number of new components inside, outside and under the skin.

The upgraded Mercedes-Benz E-Class family, including the E63 AMG variants, are scheduled to go on sale in Australia in the second half of 2013.