I was at the dealer over the weekend and asked about putting my 2002 wheels on a 2007 since I just bought new tires. The dealer said they reccomend against it since the offset is different even though the bolt circle is the same, so physically they would fit.
SO, has anyone had a wheel off yet and if so, did you notice the offset (the offset is stamped on the back of the wheel). The offset would be different on wheels of differenet width, so if you have the chance to look, please identify which wheel you have. I have factory wheels of each size and width that came from the factory for the R50 and R53, so i can do a direct compare to any stock wheels to see how different the offset is as long as I can find someone with 2007 wheels.
If the offset is minor, I'm nor going to worry about it, or if it's something I can correct with thin spacers.
Thanks.

 

The wheel offset is a 2mm difference between most R53 [50mm] and R56 [48mm] wheels, barely noteworthy. The wheel offsets are usually not changed in conjunction with wheel width; you're probably thinking backspacing that changes with width. The hub-centric size is also the same between R53 and R56: 56.1mm. The other consideration is lug bolt hole size, since late '06 R53's and newer use the uber-strange 14x1.25mm thread size.

What your dealer may have meant however, is the R56 MCS uses larger brakes, and consequently, not all R53 wheels will clear them. What wheels are you trying to adapt? We've already seen R53 S-lites installed on an R56.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

16 inch Panasports from my 2002 MINI didn't fit the new R56. Sadly... but hey, someone bought them from me, and his MCS is all the better for it!

 

What was the problem? bolt holes or brake clearance?

 

I have test fitted some of my buddies wheels already. Kosei K1 15x7 fit as well as the 16" R84. Even the new 6UL 15x8 wheels fit with a 5mm spacer. Hope this helps.

 

I have 15" holies and 15" rockets for snows and 16" 5 spokes and 17" S-lights. As long as at least one set of 15" or the 16" fit, I'm happy. any idea which ones will/won't fit?

 

I've never heard of any factory wheels that won't fit with the new 14mm bolts - I think all of the factory wheels have 16mm bolt holes, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I don't think the range of allowable offsets has changed appreciably, although brake clearance might be an issue. I do know that the X-lites fit the JCW GP, so at least *some* of the normal factory wheels fit the larger brakes.