I got the anthracite as a compromise. I think they make it look tough and dofferent from a lot of other cars on the road. A nice change after having chrome alloys on all my other cars. The brake dust on my 09 MCS hatch drove me crazy.... I don't ride my brakes and drive like an old man most of the time. Hardly ever even use the Sport button... I would still have brake dust caked on after a couple of days. I would find myself washing a completely clean car simply because the wheels were dirty.


I also have the black roof, mirrors, and headlamp housing so I thought it was a nice mix.... On some builds though, silver just plain looks better.

Go with what looks best to you!

 

And I LOVE the tunnels! They told me they were no longer available for 2013's and I was so bummed!

 

Geez, the MINI online configurator now shows an extra $100 charge when ordering black or anthracite wheels. It used to be a free option. I think a lot of people have been ordering black and anthracite, so MINI now needs to get rid of the silver inventory. That said, I still would fork up the $100 for anthracite if/when I get my CM.

 

See my wheels for sale post...........

 

I've seen the black (gloss), and silver - and love my anthracite (matte deep gray). Why? It matches the black lower trim for starters. It tones down the bright of the red paint (the color my partner picked or else I'd have a green one), and it's a nice "grounding" contrast to the white roof.

Ultimately though it's a taste thing. I prefer dark wheels on cars and have so for years. I have smoked silver stock wheels on my '11 MX5 Special Edition but I'm planning on replacing them (at least for the cold months) with a set of deep gunmetal wheels. There are several cars parked in my building that are "murdered out" - blacked out everything, including wheels. One is a '12 Grand Cherokee, the other a G37X.

Personally, I think that look is just too much. I'm not a Sith lord after all, and Vader isn't my last name. Plus it makes you look like a hyper-aggressive person when you blast a blacked out car at high speed even if you're actually a nice mellow guy. A red car going fast seems more fun and spirited than angry and brooding. Just opinion there though.

Dark wheels on the CM made it for me, but I can see why some people would prefer the alternate finishes.

 

A friend of mine who is a professional driver and instructor mentioned that black rims also gives the illusion that they are LARGER than they really are. When the eye detects the contrast between bright finished chrome/ aluminum/ white etc. and the tire, there is a clear boundary and we can see the wheel size relative to everything else. When you have a black rim, the boundary of contrast is somewhat blurred; the eye has trouble distinguishing between rim and tire- especially when in motion- making the rim seem bigger.

It's the same principle as putting stripes near the rocker panel, side skirt area. They change the overall balance of mass, and trick the eye into thinking that the car has a slimmer profile/ lower to the ground than is really is.

Hope this helps,

>Sean>

 

It's on a rare occasion that I think wheels that are any other color than silver look good on a car.

The MINI is one of the few exceptions.

I don't like all of the black wheels, but I like the Blaster wheels you can put on the Cooper S hatch, Coupe, and Roadster. They are black, but they do have a small amount of silver trim on them and they are more of a matte black.

I like the Anthracite wheels that you can get on the Countryman S which are what I put on mine. The black ones are a high polish black and they might conceal brake dust better than the silver wheels, but it will still show up as much more of a dull finish.

I like the Anthracite because they have a bit of a matte finish too which better conceals brake dust and dirt. Plus it's really a nice mix between the 2 and something that's fairly new.

As far as it being a fad?.... Maybe. There was a time when I was a kid that I loved the KITT Trans Am on Knight Rider. They showed a clip of it on a commercial the other day and I saw that it had these horrible black wheels which looked like round hubcap covers... I thought it looked hideous. Then I started looking at old Trans Ams and IROC Camaros and saw the models where they had the wheels covers in yellow, red, black, white, etc... to match the car... I wondered how anyone ever thought that was cool. Now, the black wheels seem to be making a bit of a comeback. On the MINI, I think it just works. For example, I would've never considered getting white wheels.... The I saw a Blazing red with a white top and white racing stripes and I thought it looks so sharp!

This car has the design and the personality to pull off white, black, or silver wheels. Find what you like a go fir it. Get on the configurator and try as many combinations as you can. I guarantee that you will find a combo you never considered until tried putting a lot of different things together.

 

WOW! If it only took that long to apply, I'd be changing mine (color to color) daily. Imagine that scene added to "The Italian Job III" in the middle of the get away scene!!!