The 18 inch double spokes only can be ordered with summer tires. Has anyone been able to swap them at dealer upon delivery? I want the wheels but need all seasons. Or has anyone driven in the snow with the summer tires? If s, how did they handle? thanks

 

You don't even need to ask.

ANY summer tire in the snow will make you nice and dead. Swap them out, even if at your expense. Or, get a cheap set of 17" rims with snow tires.

Don't be a hero, and think you're a great driver and think you can somehow drive in snow in summer performance tires.

 

i ordered my 2012 R60s all4 with the 18" wheel option and it came with pirelli p7 summer tires and they are great in the summer

i never drove them in snow, but i did drive them at 20F

they were useless ... any throttle resulted in all 4 wheels spinning

the lightest touch of brakes resulted in wild abs activity

get a set of winter tires on a second set of wheels

i went with 205/70R16 dunlop winter tires on 16x6.5 mini oem alloy wheels

scott

 

I would get a separate set of 17" winters. You could probably find a set of factory wheels on here for cheap. 17" snow tires are much cheaper than 18s and the ride will be better.

 

Thanks for the info. I probably will end up getting a spare set of the 17s with snows.

 

I'm going to guess that out east there's a lot more ice to deal with than in Colorado...

Before ordering my paceman I got to test drive the JCW (with 18's and summer tires). I picked one of the days after we got about a foot of snow, and after some cautionary words from my salesman he let me take out a CM JCW. The Countryman JCW handled better than I thought it would! I could crank the wheel left/right and it tracked well, even in snow covered dirt. The AWD and ABS systems were REALLY working hard. I was most impressed at how even with summer tires in this situation the car was very predictable. I even tried to get it stuck in our neighborhoods and couldn't. It wasn't as easy to drive as my old 4x4, but that was expected. It didn't strand me.

Things got a little more interesting when I turned off the TCS and turned sport mode "on". Obviously it didn't work as planned, but I had snow flying over the hood and roof as well as a "what the hell is wrong with you!" comment from my girlfriend. :D

And +1 to the comment of a set of 17" snow tires. Even with as impressive as it was, the right equipment for the job is the best bet. I'll have a set of Blizzaks before we get into winter here.

 

+1,000,000

Invest in 17" rims with good winter tires for the peace of mind and let the other fools slip 'n slide on their 18" all-seasons.

 

Those performance tires get stiff in the cold. I ordered my CM with 19s with performance tires but opted for an additional set of 17s Mini OEM Anthracite all-seaon runflats with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) sensors, wheel center caps. The dealer had three different sets of new 17s they pulled off of new CMs sitting in the managers office as the drivers wanted something else. I explored buying some cheaper non-OEM wheels, but the by the time I added tires and TPMS sensors, but the OEM looks original. I was not in the mood to bargain so I paid his asking price of $1,500 they were all balanced, MINI center caps, and included TPMS which can run. He had two other set there. Brand new from the parts dept would have been much more expensive.

Note: The CM and PM use a 5 spoke wheel versus the 4 spoke wheel in the other Mini models.