Still ridiculous. TPMS sensors are a racket!

 

I should be able to swap the tire/wheel pkg myself correct? It's not like I have to take it to MINI dealer to have the TPMS programmed, etc right?

How's does TPMS work BTW?

 

Well - a pleasant surprise after I had some Gislaved Nordfrost/ 15" steel wheels mounted. No TPMS error! I guess the Canadian vehicles don't need the sensors and use some other "magical" method with the TPMS. Can't wait for the snowflakes now

 

That's what Lightwrangler says in post #40. It's in the online manual on page 97, Flat Tire Monitor.

"It detects a pressure loss in a tire by comparing the rotational speeds of the individual wheels while moving."

 

So, is the cheapest way to go to buy the OEM steel wheels, and get 4 tires 175/65 R15 from somewhere like Discount Tires and mount them without TPMS?

Or can I get something like 5J x 15 wheel as long as it has 5x112 bolt pattern (for F56), with 175/65 R15 tires? It's getting colder here and making me think about winter tires again.

 

Not sure how long your winter is but for few more $$ you can get something nicer and will probably last you for few winter seasons.

 

These Ø15" wheels fit the bolt pattern on my 2015 MCS, but not over the OEM brakes. I'm going with Ø16" wheels for my winter set.

A non-S may be in luck with the Ø15" wheels.

 

I want to put together a set of winter wheels. Would this work for my 2010 clubman s and which would be a better size for snow wheels. 205/50/r17 or 215/45/r17 on r90 mini rims. I guess the factory size is suppose to be 205/45/17. Will those sizes fit on the rim and also not rub the fendors. I was thinking about getting General altimax artic tires.

 

Just go to tirerack.com and it will choose the right tires for you.

 

There are not very many options on tire rack for the factory tire size. I think they only list 3 different tires for factory size, and are kinda expensive.

 

Crashway2many - For the 2010 R55 Clubman S unless you need 17" with 205/45/17 for JCW brakes of something I would get 16" and steelies.

 

I want to use my 17" alloys for my winter tire set, as I have already upgraded to an 18" summer tire/wheel set, but the Blizzak LM-60 RFT 205/45/17s are made for a Miata, so the load rating is only 84H. The 16s made for the Mini are rated slightly higher at 87H. Any experts want to chime in as to whether this is a problem or not? It seems like my only other options with 17s would mean going not RFT, which I do for my summers, but I kind of don't want to do for my winters because patching a tire at the side of the road in the dead of winter does not thrill me.

 

Well, it's that time. Might as well post up the pictures. Here's the MINI all ready for winter.

 

Nice! Just had mine installed yesterday just in time for the snow. It's nice to be able to drive with confidence 😊 I'll take some photo and post next time.

 

Nuke-em, those look like MSW wheels,correct? I have the same wrapped with Blizzak WS-80s,17in.Handled 10 inches snow yesterday perfect.No issues with TPMS delete,the little warning light will go from flashing to steady after a minute at startup.small piece of electrical tape... Happy Thanksgiving,hope everyone got to where they were going safely.

 

I'm in Boston and last year I was driving an f150... so this year not knowing how the mini would handle (my summer tire's are a soft compound sport tire) I panicked and bought a whole new set of Bridgestone Blizzak's on 16" steelies from tire rack for just over 700 dollars. Literally the best deal I could find ANYWHERE, and trust me I looked, my coffers aint full. In fact there's too much dust in them as it is.

That being said I get to find out how they handle now since it snowed last night. I'll keep yall updated. Btw, the TPMS Sensor is very annoying and won't let me access anything else on the OBC(?). Working on that too.

 

Yep; MSW Type 25's with Blizzak LM-60 RFT's.

I thought the TPMS warnings would be annoying but surprisingly, no.

For those of you who are curious, I am running winters without TPMS sensors. Once the car realizes there is a "malfunction", a message is displayed on the Nav screen and the OBC. Additionally, there will be an illuminated TPMS light in the instrument cluster. You will then get these messages each time you start the car. Both messages can be cleared. The TPMS light will flash for ~30 seconds and then remain illuminated. There will also be a Check Control warning in the upper right-hand corner of the OBC. It's relatively unobtrusive and you learn to ignore the light.

 

Wrench Monkey, you say you got Blizzaks on 16" steelies from Tire Rack, do you have an F56 S? Tire Rack doesn't show steelies as an option for me.

Also, for those considering not using TPMS, the warning monopolizes your on-board computer display, which is a non-starter for me. I'm not going to go through the whole winter without being able to obsessively monitor my fuel mileage or total miles per tank!

I'm starting to think it makes more sense to just have my local installer swap out my tires twice a year rather than pay for another full set of TPMS.

And while I'm venting, I have had three annoying slow leaks on both my previous R55 and new F56 that were all CAUSED by leaking TPMS. Thanks for this feature, feds.

 

That is 100% not true. The warning message takes over the screen when you first start the car. However, pushing the button on the end of the turn signal stalk clears the message. The only thing you're left with is the triangle Check Control sign in the very upper right hand corner. No functionality is lost. See attached photos.

 

That's good to know, thanks. I was going from my experience with low pressure, which is apparently handled differently. I could easily put up with that triangle.

 

My winter wheels are Pirelli Snowcontrol Series 3 Runflat 195/55R16 on loop spoke wheels.

 

Hey guys

Finally had a chance to take a photo after busy weeks. I went with 195/55R-16 Dunlop Winter Maxx XL with Anzio Vision for my winter package. I went 1 inch smaller than my summer tires for improved performance in snow.
I had a chance to take it out on a snow few weeks ago and it went through a pile of snow in front of my drive way with ease (while my neighbor couldn’t clear and had to get out of the car to shovel haha). I wasn’t crazy about the wheels in the beginning but it kind of grew on me and I’m happy with the way it looks now. I got the TPMS because I just like to see the tire PSI on my infortainment system so I can check everyday and drive with peace knowing that it’s properly inflated. To each his (her) own

 

8 inches of snow today, very slippery. The Pirelli Sottozero II tires are working very well. Sliding about a bit, but much better traction than I had expected. So far so good.

LW

 

I purchased a winter tire and wheel package from TireRack.com. I went with the 16x6.5 Borbet Type F Bright Silver wheel from Germany and the 195/55R-16 Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 ZP Run Flats. I also sprung for the 433Mhz TPMS.

Tirerack mounts the tires on the wheels, installs a centering ring and TPMS then balances them. Each wheel and tire combo is shipped separately with foam padding and cardboard to protect the new wheels. They do not come in a box.

I installed the new winter package using a 17mm deep well impact socket. As a reminder, when removing the summer wheels be sure to have the car supported by a jack first before you remove the bolts. Yes, the wheels are held on by 28MM M-14 1.25 wheel bolts, NOT LUG NUTS. If you pull all the bolts out without supporting the car first you could damage the break components as the car could tip and ram the rotors into the ground.

The torque spec for the wheel bolts is 101 foot pounds. Also, The wheels are shipped with about 30psi in the tires so I upped the fronts to 41psi and the rears to 38psi per spec in the owners manual. Because I have the MCS model the smallest wheel you can install is 16 inches (you have more winter tire options if you go with a 16 inch wheel BTW). It leaves about a finger width gap between to break caliper and the inside of the wheel.

The Michelins are really quiet and super grippy. The ride is actually a little nicer than the 17's. The cool thing about the Borbet wheels is that you can swap out the stock center caps with the Mini logo ones so it looks like it came from the factory.

 

VERY,VERY, nice setup!!!!