I've been trying to search around for some information on wheel specs and for some reason I feel like I haven't been getting the most consistent bits of info. I'm looking at a wheel with much lower offset than stock which in theory should push the wheel itself out. However, with the much lower offset, doesn't that decrease the backspacing dimension which in result would risk clearing the brake caliper?

This link (https://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html) summarizes saying that lower offset decreases backspace making it smaller but yet I just got off the phone with a rep from ESM Wheels saying that lower offset (acting as a spacer) will push the wheel out clearing any obstacles/caliper.

Does this sound correct? Or did I just hear something wrong?

Also, stock R53 caliper is pretty thick. Right now with stock wheels, backspace is at around 5.75" and the wheels I'm looking at have a backspace of 5"... How much does backspace have direct relation to brake clearance or is it more wheel design that play a factor?

Sorry for the bajillions of questions

 

if you want your wheels to be flush with your fender,
go with a 15/16/17x8 with +30 offset

 

Got that taken care of! Just not sure about brake clearance

 

If your target is to have more offset (around 25-35), don't worry about brake clearance...
Stock Mini Cooper S r53 can fit 15 inches wheels with S brakes (not the R56, 16'' is the minimum) so you can go with what you like, just choose between 15-16-17-18 and an offset between 20-40 (I recommend choosing an offset a little higher of want you think if your not sure and adjust with spacers after)

 

Ok are you saying with lower offset than i should not worry about it or only if it's in that range of 20-40? What about offset from +0 to +15? Is that going into bad territory?

 

The shape of the spokes and size of the lip needs to be considered too...

 

 

Let's do a quick explanation of offset:
so an offset of 0 means that your hub will sit exactly at the center of your wheel.
With that in mind, you can go in - offset or + offset
Basically if you go with a positive number your hub will be sitting closer to the outside of your wheel, and if you go with a negative offset your hub will sit between the center of your wheel and the inner side.

So (let's consider that you have stock 17'' wheels)... those stock wheels are 17x7 with a +48 offset.
That means that with the stock wheels your hub is sitting 48mm from the center of your wheel (on the out side).
if you go with a 20mm offset, your wheel will be sitting 20mm from the wheel center, and that means that your wheel will be sticking out 28mm more than stock. (like adding a 28mm spacer between your hub and stock wheels)

(hope my explanation helps)
and BTW, I don't know what's your goal with the mini, if you want to drop and stance or something else, but with a 0-15 offset your wheel will poke a lot, so if you want to fit these, you will need a good stretch on your tires and some aggressive camber -6 and more

True, but most of the time you ok when adding offset

 

Cool yea that makes plenty of sense. I'm thinking though that my question is more just going to be answered by test fitting my wheels. I think for some reason I've just been thinking that lower offset = less backspace = less room for inside clearance (caliper) but from what I've heard here it's more wheel shell/lip/spoke layout.

And also "True, but most of the time you ok when adding offset".... is that referring to negative or positive offset?

 

Adding offset reffers to reducing the offset "number"
so adding offset if the action to go from +48 offset to +20