Well, I took the Mini out of the garage for spring (I don't drive it in the winter...at all) and a week later I hit a pothole (and I thought most of the major holes were patched). The pothole dented the rim and bulged the tire. Needless to say both need to be replaced. The only silver lining here is that I get my bonus from last year at the end of the month.

In any case, I have the stock rims and the Dunlop SP Sport 01 205/45/R17 Tires. I'm not really worried about the replacement considering the dealer quoted me $1500 for the tire and wheel (yes, 1 tire and 1 wheel). I've found the wheel for $250 on ebay and the tire for as low as $225.
wheel:


I don't really have a problem with the run flats (other than the damn potholes in Michigan), but now I'm wondering if I should replace the 4 wheels with something different? I want something more for performance than ride comfort or winter driving, as I love how the car handles. But this is Michigan and our roads suck.

My options are as follows:
Replace one tire and one wheel with the stock equipment NOT purchased at the dealer.

Replace 4 wheels and 1 tire (keeping 3 tires) assuming I stick with 17" rims.

Replace 4 wheels and 4 tires with something better. As a note, if I replace my wheels, I'm going to go with black.

Thanks in advance.

 

I just upgraded to JCW R113 wheels in black. They came with P Zero RFs though. I had black R112 wheels as delivered. I like them.

 

I have few other questions.

The stock wheels are 205/40/r17? Can you go wider or larger diameter wheels without affecting performance negatively? A little research I've done says my ride comfort will be improved with the larger diameter wheels but not cornering (while it isn't a significant difference, I love how the car handles now).

I'm not necessarily sold in purchasing OEM wheels. If I'm going to do that, I'll just get a used one off of ebay and replace the front 2 tires. The other reason is I'm a bit miffed at the price the dealership quoted me for one tire and wheel (since I can get a 2 new tires and a used rim for less than half the cost).

If I don't go with OEM, will that kill the TPMS sensors? Would I have to purchase new sensors?

 

I would repair or replace the damaged wheel and mount four of these:

Michelin Pilot Super Sport(Max Performance Summer)
Size: 215/45ZR17
Serv. Desc: (91Y)
UTQG: 300 AA A
Price: $146 at TireRack.com

You can transfer the sensor and valve stem from the damaged wheel if you need to replace it.

Ride, handling, and pot hole protection will all improve. You might want a mobility kit to repair a flat.

 

There are a number of threads about tire upsizing/change here that will answer questions on fitment and performance improvements. Looks like you have seen some already. I cannot comment on this but do plan to move from run flats to conventional tires when I do my suspension this summer. Like the poster above notes you can transfer your TPMS sensors from your old rim to the new one. Mini apparently made some changes to the sensors during the RX production run so be sure your current sensors are compatible for whatever rims you end up with. They are around 75.00 each if purchased online. Dealer pricing on most parts are much more than online equivalents. I bought my R113s wheels/tire set at about 40% less than what my dealer wanted... Good luck.

 

Those R113 look awesome. We have full sets ( 4 wheels , mounted , balanced, JCW center caps... etc ) here that have been price dropped and are in limited quantities. Once these are gone, they are gone. Come in Black and Black w/ machined face.


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3991744



Thanks