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Check Out this 1999 Review of a BMW Z3 M Coupe

BMW is known for a couple of great cars but not all of them looked like they should. In this category, we could easily include the Z3 M Coupe, a car that looked... peculiar, to say the least. The nickname that was bestowed upon it later on made it rather clear why.
BMW Z3 M Coupe 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
The Clown Shoe was an incredible machine though and it was well appreciated by everyone for the way it handled. After all, it had a lot its underpinnings shared with the E36 and E46 M3 models and that says a lot.

The initial M model was using the S50 and S52 engines, depending on the continent, as the US has a different plant used due to differing regulations about emissions and stuff but even so, the clown shoe was at the top of the game due to its handling.

Various magazines praised and included it amongst their annual most wanted or ten best lists and even Top Gear went as far as to call it the Car of the Year in 2002.

In the video below we get to see it being reviewed back in 1999. The car in the video is an American edition before the turn of the century. That means it has a 3.2-liter inline 6-cylinder DOHC engine that makes 246 HP and 236 lb-ft (320 Nm) of torque. It came with a standard 6-speed 5-speed manual and it was extremely nimble.

Sure, the spec sheet doesn’t seem that impressive today but the thrills you’d get behind the wheel were some serious business. Check out what an original review had to say about it back in the day.

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