As part of the process of building my MCS i've decided to go with after market wheels and tires. One consideration has been Chrome or Polished Aluminum wheels. Not many choices are out there from what I've found.

I drove into the lot at Moritz in Arlington TX ready to put the down payment on my MCS and there in the lot, a DS/B MCS with Chrome R85's. Evidently the dealer has an arrangement with a chrome shop in CA that swaps the originals with chromed wheels. Moritz charges $999 and takes your originals as a core trade. The shop sends the chrome ones before your car comes in to the dealer. When they get the car they swap wheels and return your originals.

Seems a bit pricy, how much is determined by what resale on unused wheels is on ebay. I picked out a wheel/tire combo at Discount for $1200 making my originals prime candidates for resale.

Opinions?

I have jpegs of the wheels, but am unsure how to post them. Do I need a host? I'd be willing to email them if anyone is interested in posting them for me.

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Soon to be owner MCS... trying to figure my ride out.

 

Aloha and welcome to MCO
Our dealer does chrome on stock wheels all the time. Usually they are MINIs on the lot, the wheels are removed and the rims sent to CA for chroming then they return and the tires are remounted and wheels are sold on the car for $2000 markup over the actual previous cost of the car.

I have looked at the options of doing this chroming myself. I'd get any wheels including stock and ship them to platecorp.com in CA then they chrome them for $145 est per rim and then ship back to me. I put the tires back on and balance them. Not as expensive.

Otherwise you can buy polished finished rims that look like chrome or actual chrome wheels which are usually $400 more for the set or worse and also are about 2 pounds heavier per wheel due to the chrome.

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ALOHA

 

here is an example of polished wheel finish- it's not chrome but looks like chrome- lighter too.
Centerline RPM 17x7 about 15 pounds per rim ($315 per rim)

 

Thanks for the look, very nice rim. Can you suggest a quality rim with similar appearance in the $200-250 range? Do you know how much the stock R85 weighs in comparison?

 

>>Thanks for the look, very nice rim. Can you suggest a quality rim with similar appearance in the $200-250 range? Do you know how much the stock R85 weighs in comparison?

With the sport package, you get the R85, also known as the S-Lite. It's not light, though, weighing in around 25lbs. It's a 17" x 7", with an offset of -50mm.

Here are some choices:
Try edge racing-here are some 17x7" rim bundles
http://www.edgeracing.com/product/bu...md=96&d=17
Take a look some are full wheelsets from $820 to 940 to 1300 and rim weights from 17 to 25 pounds each.
Fliks are copycat versions of some of the more expensive rims like those of SSR Comps and GT1 and others.

Also try shopping at tirerack.com for the real stuff and some additional knockoffs.

 

Another good site for wheelsets for the MINI and reasonable prices- weights and sizes vary
Good selection of finishes
http://www.outmotoring.com/exterior.html
or
http://www.rspeed.net/mini/subcat.asp?dept=12&cat=6

If you like classic mesh style then-
How about this one the Ace Arius Wheel 17x7 Hyper Black +42 Offset
Or as a Wheel and tire package constist of Top Of the line 215/40/17 Falken FK 451 Tires mounted and Balanced with all hardware include! Standard shipping charge of $85.00 for 4 , Set price $1,095

 

I think I want to go with the Centerlines. Where did you find them for $315? Is that the polished rim?

 

kermini,

Centerline RPMs are very good. $315 per rim is found at Webmotorsports.
http://www.webbmotorsports.com/suspension.php
Centerline RPM Forged Wheel
This wheel is a rotary forged, lightweight and extremely strong 17x7" wheel. The 42mm offset will not cause rubbing if used with the correct sidewall. The RPM is available in Dark Anthracite, White, or Silver. [White] [Dark Anthracite] [Silver]
Price: $315 each
In addition you can ask Randy to special order polished finish like mine or even Chrome.
I have about 1000 miles on my wheels now. Yokohama ES100 tires 215/45-17. This is an excellent setup for me.
Great handling, quiet, good tread wear, great wet or dry traction, looks good, reasonable price.
The centerlines are relatively easy to keep clean (somehow they don't attract brake dust as much as the stock rims-maybe due to the finish), they are very strong, very light for 17". I like how they look and I get compliments all the time. they do come with chrome valve covers and centering hub rings 73.1mm/56.1mm.

The Anthracite is very dark but the finish is nice. White is on backorder last time I checked. Silver is nice if you don't like the chrome look and you don't want to clean your wheels all the time. Polished will scratch more easily than chrome but chrome is 2 pounds heavier per rim and about $400 more per set- expect a very high gloss chrome finish. The polished is more of a super shiny silver polished finish and can be cleaned up and polished using-Blue Magic Liquid Metal Polish (acts like a polishing compound in liquid form). I had some irregular dull finish on the sides of the 6 spokes but I was able to polish it out about 90% so it looks pretty good now.

I have seen 215/40-17 tires with these rims. They do OK but are slightly lower profile, and are rated lower load.
I like my 215/45-17. More accurate speedo, little taller tire that fills the wheel well, little softer ride with good handling compared to the 40 series. Each tire rim combo for me weighs about 36 pounds. Roughly 21 for the tire and just under 15 pounds for the rim.

 

Sorry but chroming the rims is the uglyest thing you can do, and by the way is an america style, you can see s600 with chrome wheels just in the states, not in Aurope, Mexico or other part of the world.

Do you really think they look cool?????

Remember that fashion not always is the best looking ¿remember de 80´s? crown victorias with chrome wheels, pacers AMC, gremlins.

Ricardo

 

what about my post, what do you think.

Ricardo :evil:

 

>>what about my post, what do you think.
>>


¿Que opino yo, tu preguntas manito ? Pues, creo que cada persona tiene el derecho de disfrutar la vida de su própia manera, no crees? Es bién difícil andar en los zapotos de otras personas si uno no ha tenido las mismas experiencias. Que te disfrutes tu bonito carito de tu manera, hermano . . . y que nos dejes disfrutar los de nosotros de nuestras maneras. Hay suficient espacio en el mundo para los estilos de todos.

Chepe

 

Ok pues tienes razón, hay gustos para todos, mi comentario fue mi opinión y nada mas, creo que todos en este foro y en otros tenemos el derecho de decir lo que pensamos. Para mi se ven muy feos los rines cromados quizas para otras personas no, esta bien, lo que quiere decir es que yo no lo haria nunca no me gustan.

De cualquier forma me da gusto saber que hay mas gentes en este foro que hablamos español.

Saludos

Ricardo

 

Si hable Englais???


We all do here, makes things easier!

Thanks

Alex

 

>>Sorry but chroming the rims is the uglyest thing you can do, and by the way is an america style, you can see s600 with chrome wheels just in the states, not in Aurope, Mexico or other part of the world.

Like tastes in jewelry or anything else it is up to each person to decide what they think is good to them.
I was at a track event where one of the MCS (not mine) had chrome R85 wheels and I heard compliments all day from people from other states that were visiting, mentioning how nice the wheels looked on the MINI. Perhaps it is an "american" thing but I do not think that chrome is going to die out anytime soon.
Here are some pictures from the event:




Chrome R85 on MCS