The BMW Clownshoe has no equal | The Next Big Thing with Magnus Walker | Ep. 203

This week, Magnus Walker takes a trip to Beantown and visits with Rob Siegel AKA The Hack Mechanic. Both share a love for vintage cars, which is why Magnus is rather befuddled as to why Rob owns a not-quite-vintage 1999 BMW M Coupe -- and why it was kept instead of the 1982 Porsche 911 SC.

Is the M Coupe to be dismissed as a car for clowns or is it, in fact, like nothing else on the road? (And we don’t mean in just the looks department.) Find out if Magnus continues to question Rob’s life choices or if, in fact, the Clownshoe is the Next Big Thing.

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Episode chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:22 The old next Big Thing BMW 3.0 CSi
01:21 What is the Clownshoe?
01:43 The Hack Mechanic
04:33 On route to the Shute
06:57 The Shute
08:11 Final thoughts

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[ervin]

I wonder if they filmed this series 5 years ago and just didn't release it. Because almost every episode is on a car that has already seen a significant increase in value.

[jcrbama]

The M Coupe is averaging about $50k on the used market right now. About $5 k more than what they were new. I think it's safe to say that these are well passed the "next big thing".

[JP-kkfz]

Please no, the prices of these cars are already astronomical

[MikeS]

LMAO usually I love your content Hagerty but jesus christ this car WAS the next big thing like 15 years ago.

[Bubblun]

Magnus excelled at cutting Rob off mid sentence, dominating the conversation, and making Rob cringe as he wringed out his M Coupe to 6k RPMs. How about giving Rob the program, he's more interesting and likeable?

[HawaiianKong]

“The next big thing” is already priced out of the average guy’s wallet

[DavidGregoire_]

I've been following Rob's column for a while I'm so happy to see this here!

[ThatGuy-xdfs]

Was already pricey … now its in uffff nvm territory - ty again magnus

[klausm]

The open top Z3 suffered from quite some body flex due to being based on a mixture of E36 and E30 architecture. Adding the roof increased torsional rigidity by a factor of 2.6 which puts it in a whole different category handling-wise.

[HoustonCanuk]

I hung on Rob's every single word from his columns. One of my role models and I truly admire him. Glad to see he's still doing his hack mechanic thing!

[rootsmanuva]

I’m in the minority but I’ve always preferred the S52 over the S54. The S52 is creamy smooth and sonorous whereas the S54 is blatty and corse sounding. 315 hp is better than 240 hp but the latter is plenty powerful enough.

[chezburgersub]

This was my dream car back then due to it's uniqueness. Got to sit in a new one on the showroom floor and the cabin hugged you perfectly.
Awesome reference to 202 BTW. Route 2 to 202 was my old route from eastern mass to UMass

[jamcdona]

I so love Rob Siegel! From my early BMW days, the Hack mechanic was the best column for me in Roundel Magazine, which I stole from the local BMW independant service shop until I could afford a membership! Rob tought me (and gave me the courage to) change out a master cylinder in my E21 in the 80's, as well as so setting K-Jet with a 3mm tool and other fantabulous tuning tasks for the M10. Plus...Code Monkey. He gave me that....

[gregdeschodt]

Good to see Rob, and hear him... Funny as I'm finishing his excellent book (collection of all hack mechanic columns)

[KenanTurkiye]

I'm a coupe guy.
But always loved the M Coupe since its inception, quircky brute attractiveness to it.

[GlennsCarCollection]

I had a 2001 with the S54 engine, black in black with tinted windows, wheels and exhaust. Turned heads where ever I went. Most common question, “what is jt”. Everyone shocked its was a BMW. Mine went way in value so I sold it, but I should have kept it

[Canadianpirate]

Quite an an interesting taste this hack guy has, but I'll be honest, there is some sort of charm in this BMW!

[empwr]

Great to see Rob and his cars on the channel! The Clown Shoe is a love-it-or-hate-it thing among the BMW crowd (count me as a hearty "Love it!")

[jimmywilliamson]

I think this car is a good example of how something can be cool and ugly at the same time, they do grow on you and if I could fit my big 6 foot three self into one comfortably I would definitely on one, and possibly with the second criteria being that I would need to know a good independent BMW mechanic because that era of BMW was not known for fantastic long-term reliability.

[rootsmanuva]

I’ve ALWAYS LOVED the M Coupe. To those who are just coming around now... bug off!!! Lol