Hi guys! I am fairly new to the community and very excited to be a part of it with my new 2005 R53 Mini Cooper S purchased a few days ago with 24k miles.

My questions are regarding what wheel width to get to flush out with the wheel flares with a 16" tall wheel. Here's a pic of what I'm talking about:



Also what do I need to do to lower the car, I'm new to coil overs and such and don't know where to start, here's one that I like a lot:

 

getting the right stance takes some practice and quite some time with an alignment machine or good maths. Coilovers are subject to everyones opinion and each have their own uses. such as stance, go faster, comfort..... Personally ive ridden on megans and I enjoy their ride quality. mine are going in this spring. you will also need rear control arms. and depending on the coilover new mounts and chamber plates. depending on how much drop, sway bar endlinks to keep that from binding...


then rubber to fit the wheels just right


spacers are only needed if the offset of the wheel you have is not at the right spot. then with spacers, youll need longer wheel lug bolts.

 

The other consideration with coilovers is shock quality. The cheaper ones are comfortable enough and are height adjustable, but the shocks won't last and you'll have a rough rattle-trap in a few months.

 

Springs are a simple way to lower the car. I would not lower with spring more than about 1-1/4". There many option for around a 1" drop.
The width of spacers depend on the wheel diameter (16"), wheel width (7" if stock), wheel offset (depends on wheel), tire width, and tire aspect ratio.

 

For coil overs, what's your budget? There are a lot of options. If you want a good bang for your buck coil over, I'd highly recommend ST coil overs here. I've had these installed on everything from daily drivers to high HP builds. They handle and hold up well and they're even manufactured by KW! Any type of lowering you do to your MINI you'll want to invest in a good set of adjustable control arms. One of the best arms on the market is the Hotchkis arms here. Let me know if you have any questions.