Can someone please confirm that 15" wheels will fit on an R53 Cooper S. I am trying to purchase a winter tire package and the tire shops in my area insist that 16" is the smallest diameter listed in their catalogues and therefore nothing smaller will fit.

Yet I am sure I have seen certain board members with pictures of their MCS's with 15" winter shoes.

Thanks in adavance.

 

I have 15" winter steelies on right now. As long as you don't have a big brake kit you should be fine.

 

I have 15" alloys and 185/65-15 snowtires on mine.

 

Awesome - thank you so much!

 

'05 R53: I got my 15" steel MINI rims, with BMW E46 plastic hubcaps, on it right now. Tires are 175/65/15 ContiWinterContacts TS70.

 

Eek! Is that a very recent picture? That is a whole winter's worth of winter blues, all in one still-shot photo...and here it's not even winter yet!

 

I just went outside and took a pic of my 15 inch winter wheels. As long as you have stock brakes and no JCW brake package, you should be just fine. It's tight, but I had no issues and no need for spacers to clear the calipers.

 

These are the 15" wheels I got at Tirerack a few years back. No problems with fit and at $67 each they are perfect for sloshing around in the bad weather.

 

That was last year before it all melted by the Winter Olympics. But this year, we got this last weekend.

 

15 inch wheels fit as long as you do not have a big brake kit...

 

What size tire are you running in the picture there?

 

Those are 185/65/15 Nokia Hakkapalita 2 snow tires. That tire is now discontinued. I'm currently using Pirelli Winter 190 in the same size. I've not used them in the snow yet so I'm hoping they will work well. They were 1/3 the price of the Hakka's so I'm hoping they will be good. Too cheap to pass up. Bought them at Tire Rack.

 

What year is your R53 and do you have JCW brakes? If so then you have much less clearance.

If you have stock MCS brakes then you can fit 15" wheels.

Try entering your MCS in tirerack.com and see what wheels are suggested. You can add snow tires, contact Alex@tirerack.com and see what can fit.

The alloy 15" or 16" wheels are cheap enough and will do fine for winter.

 

 

Now that is a clean setup! What size tires are you run-ING on that!?

 

175/65/15 winters

 

Super clean look man. Makes me want to go and grab the V-Maxx coils rather than new wheels. I love my holeys and the way they look!

 

Thanks!
Yes, grab those coils , makes for a great snow plow
more inspiration

 

Yep, that seals the deal on the coils! And as much as I hate to say it, the response on the 175/65/15 tires really rocks as well. I am thinking of possibly rollin' those coils and then a set of Yokohama AVID Envigor tires in the 175/65/15 size. Those should have plenty of grip in comparison to the contis!

 

Well, I didn't get to gra the coils. However, I did snag a sweet set of Koni Yellows from a fellow NAMer! I will be installing those shortly. I am hoping that these shocks fill the void in my handling dept. After driving on all sorts of sizes for the mini, I prefer the OEM size due to the feedback I get with them. Plus, the car can still easily be put through its paces on the 175/65/15 tire. I wanted to roll some 195/60/15 tires, but the OEM size seems adequate enough for me for now.