My husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I blew his mind by telling him new rims (it's usually jewelry).

I know I want to get rid of my stock rims on our 2009 Clubman. I have been reading the threads in this forum but it is info overload! I need info on rims that are economical (no $500 a rim price), and will fit our 15" tires. Husband won't spring for new tires until the current new ones wear down.

Which websites would you recommend? Thanks!

 

www.tirerack.com would be a good place to start. You may even be able to see what the wheels will look like on your car (I haven't tried it with a Clubman).

 

Alex at Tirerack is a good resource, he helped and answered all my questions when i initially wanted to order a set. Check out the TireRack.com website. good resource but you can always reach out to Alex, he can tell you what will fit and what won't with what tires you have now
Alex@tirerack.com

 

I would wait and buy bigger wheels...they will look better. I just never cared for the 15'' wheels.

 

+1 for a bump to 17" tires... You won't regret it and it will look a lot better.

 

Agreed, alex is a very knowledgeable and helpful guy. Id start there.

 

The marketplace here on NAM often has nice sets of wheels WITH good tires (aka, plenty of tread left) that could be a good compromise for the husband. Also, you could factor in selling your 15's with the tires to offset the cost. 16's or 17's would really make your car look awesome!

 

have to agree here and say to wait and upgrade to a bigger wheel. Besides you will have many more choices in a 16" and even more in a 17" wheel.

 

I agree with everyone, Tire Rack, Alex and wait til tires wear out and then get 17 inch rims and tires. Save the stock 15 inch wheels for winter for cross county travel. Or sell them to recouperate some of the cost of fancy 17' wheels.

 

Leaning towards doing this. How exactly do 17 inch tires/rims improve the look of the MINI? I know they're wider, but how different does the MINI look? Forgive my ignorance; I really am wanting to learn about this.

 

The width is minimal, only 1/2" from a 16 to a 17, but the 15" wheels might be even narrower than the 16s. I would not buy wheels in 15, the looks are just not there. I would however look into a 16 or 17 and it helps the look immensely.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t/21909/cat/46

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t/21859/cat/46

 

Agreed; 15-inch wheels look too small in the wheel wells. I concur about going up to 17-inch wheels. That is the sweet spot for wheel size on the MINI. Anything bigger can get cartoonish, (especially if you still have stock brakes underneath the spokes, as opposed to a big brake kit). I've always loved the stock MINI "Web Spokes", which are 17-inch. There are probably lots of sets of those for sale here or on eBay.



Don't just get 15-inchers now, and then regret it later because they look too small.

Definitely try the wheel configurator on Tire Rack.com. Compare your MINI Clubman with 15-inch wheels, and 17-inch wheels. You may be surprised to see how much better it looks with the bigger ones!

 

I am a big fan of 15s, but 17s just fit better on the bigger Clubman, they fill in the gap of the wheel well better. OEM 15s usually have a tall "donut" looking tire while 17s tires are scaled down at the sidewall to say a 40 series tire.