Hey guys,

Aside from TireRack and Discount Tire, where are people sourcing wheels? I see a lot of photos of MINI's running "nice" looking wheels, but most of the large online vendors I've come across seem to have all the same inventory and nothing really stands out too much. I'm talking about aggressive offset, concave, three piece, stuff like that. I'm thinking of tarting up the R50 a bit with something nice, but I'd like something other than the usual OZ/Enkei/Konig kind of stuff.

I picked up a brochure at a local shop for AVID.1, lots of them look interesting but I don't know if they're junk or not.

Here's one direction I'm thinking of going, I think this car looks perfect.

 

Only bought tires off of Tire Rack. Wheels? Craiglist, Hondatech forums, and direct from CCW.

 

Craigslist is really the best for a good deal, spend some time searching for a clean set. Honestly brand new wheel prices are just ridiculous.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys. As far as Craigslist, what do I need to know to be sure a wheel will fit, aside from diameter, width, offset, and bolt pattern?

 

You've pretty much listed everything that determines if a wheel will fit or not. The only other thing is bore, but thats not really a make or break factor because you can buy centering rings for like $20. The mini is 56.1mm bore.

I'm a big fan of bbs rs style rims on minis too. I just didn't have the money for the real thing and didnt want to settle for a crappy knockoff.

 

Also have them meet you at a tire shop. Be sure it's even balanced in the first place. I remember driving up to SF to buy some OZ wheels. Biggest f'in mistake in my life. It all became a nightmare with personal things that went down that caused me to have to leave my car up there for a day and fly back immediately, then fly back up to drive back down. Crazy crazy. What should have been an easy $700 deal ended up being a huge $1500 debacle.

Anyways, bought the wheels off the guy (he was on NAM!) and I trusted him and never checked them, finally got them down to LA, had tires mounted and find out one of the wheels were cracked. All this guy did was say he never checked them when he bought them blah blah. So needless to say, always check the wheels, inspect like crazy and walk away when you don't feel comfortable with the deal.

 

Tirerack.com offers a decent range of wheels for various budgets that are more practical for the average owner, matched with a good selection of possible tires and fitments.

There are many many other sources of wheels both budget minded and more custom or exotic. They may or may not have any idea of what fitments will work with MINIs as they usually serve a more high end buyer.

PM me if you want to know more (as the information competes with NAM vendor sponsors).

 

Looking at the picture you posted, here's another-


You're looking at Deep dish, wire mesh classic spoke pattern painted finish with polished lip.
I would estimate these are 15x9" wheels.

Also look up HRE vintage 501 3 piece (flat or conical face) custom fitments.

 

Thanks for the replies guys!

ra2fanatic, that sounds like a nightmare! I'll keep that in mind if I come across something used.

minihune, PM sent I checked out HRE, love the look but the price tag might be a bit much for me. I found a few sets on eBay that are worth more than the car. At this point I'm not morally opposed to cast knockoffs

 

Buying expensive wheels can be more for looks and status, I think that setting a budget will define what will be workable for you.

In the exotic car world it's easy to spend $2000-3000+ per wheel for custom wheels, tires can be $400-500+ per tire. And of course with street use those tires do not last. So count your blessings.

 

I have found the best way to find a good used set is to scour craigslist for wheels that fit Hondas as they have the same bolt pattern and similar offset. Plus there's a ton to choose from usually, that's how I found a used set of bbs r90s, they were actually on someone's civic. As others have mentioned just make sure you really check the set over before handing over money. I prefer to buy wheels with tires on them, even if they are worn down because it will give me an idea whether or not they hold air.