  We present an E7(7) invariant Lagrangian that leads to the equations of
motion of d=4 N=8 supergravity without using Lagrange multipliers. The
superinvariance of this new action and the closure of the supersymmetry algebra
are proved explicitly for the terms that differ from the Cremmer--Julia
formulation. Since the diffeomorphism symmetry is not realized in the standard
way on the vector fields, we switch to the Hamiltonian formulation in order to
prove the invariance of the E7(7) invariant action under general coordinate
transformations. We also construct the conserved E7(7)-Noether current of
maximal supergravity and we conclude with comments on the implications of this
manifest off-shell E7(7)-symmetry for quantizing d=4 N=8 supergravity, in
particular on the E7(7)-action on phase space.
