I see there are some rebates on tires these days and was looking to pickup some steel rims and winter tires for the Fiancee's 2012 Mini Cooper Hardtop with 15" 5-Star Twin Spoke Wheels.....except when I go to Tirerack, they only show alloy wheels. What gives? Is it just Tirerack, or are there really no cheapy steel rims out there for her car? Many thanks!

 

Steel rims are definitely possible since they're standard (w/ hubcaps) in other countries.

 

I agree... just need to split up my order now. *sigh*

 

What about discount tire? Possibly this is what you're looking for?

link

 

I was told by my mini dealer/shop foreman a few years ago that they provided Honda civic steel rims to mini owners who wanted winter tires mounted on them. Much cheaper and better made.

Perhaps you can try this avenue as well to get what you need.

Also call Alex at tirerack and ask him about the steel rims.

 

Also some VW rims will fit. Just watch that the ET and offset are correct.

 

First guy I got ahold of @ Tirerack said he trusts his tire fitment guys and there is no option. In the end I just emailed Alex:

Hi Alex,

I'm looking to pickup a winter/tire package for my Fiancee and her 2012 Mini Cooper Hardtop (base) w/ 15in alloy twin-spoke rims.

I want these tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....5XI2&tab=Specs

As for Rims...

According to Edmunds her twin spoke rims are these:

15" 5-Star Twin Spoke Wheels
15" x 5.5" 5-Star Twin Spoke design alloy wheels with 175/65R15 tires

Photo of her car:
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...65653767_n.jpg

When I go through the winter and tire selector on tirerack.com it does not come up with any steel rims, but in reading on forums I'm (relatively) confident there are 15 x 5.5 steel rims out there and it will fit.

I see some used ones for sale from a dealership that claim to fit all base minis in 15 x 5.5 steel rims.

It looks like the steel RIMS should fit fine.

http://libraryofmotoring.info/facts/wheels/#15

Can you link me to 15 x 5.5 steel rims that will fit my Fiancee's 2012 mini Cooper Hardtop (base)?

Thanks.

 

You can check to see if you can find or order these OEM MINI Steel 15" wheels which should fit fine.

http://www.alloywheelsdirect.net/min...eel_wheel_3181

15x5.5" et45mm, comes in sliver or black color.

If you have trouble finding it then cheap allow wheels are also an option.

 

--

 

And the centre (oops, center) bore - don't VW use 57mm while Mini use 56.1mm? Close enough for people to think they will work, while not actually getting the wheel centred (oops, centered) right.

 

My winter tires are on 15" alloys because those wheels (new) could be had for cheaper than 15" steel rims.

 

Go to Discount Tire Direct. The first wheel shown for a 2012 Mini base hardtop is a steel wheel: Unique 83 for $55.00 each and free shipping. This is it:

 

So the extra 1/2 in width of the rim won't make a difference? The OEM is 5.5in whereas the Unique 83 is 6in wide. (And of course Discount Tire Direct does not have cheap snow tires, but Tirerack does and won't sell me the right sized steel rims...ugh)

 

ecs tuning has both a 15" and a 16" steel wheel

the 15" is $41.11, the 16" is $61.06

http://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2010-C...els/OEM_Steel/

scott

edit ... just looked again, the 15" is for the mini donut spare tire

 

Just called Gavin at Tirerack. He states they take in all wheels and scan them with a cad/cam program to form a 3-dimensional rendering for their DB. They also do this for all cars to get dimension on brake calipers, hubs, control arms, wheel wells, etc. and then they figure out which wheels will fit which cars.

He stated they have 6 guys doing this all day, and while to error is human they are pretty good. With that said he would go to the engineering guys and have a look as to why the 2002 steel wheels (15 x 6.5) are listed for the 2022 mini cooper base, but not for my 2012. It's still weird to me why the stock alloy rims are 15x5.5 and they fit fine, but I'd have to step up to a 15x6.5 steel rim for this to (possibly) work. If anyone can shed some light on the subject I'd appreciate it. Tirerack is going to email me back with an answer.

 

Well then...

" It was nice speaking with you earlier. I have heard back from my fitment department and the lug access holes on the 02 configured wheels are for a 12mm bolt, and the newer vehicles would need a 14mm hole. The brake calipers are also different. I do not have a steel wheel for your 2012 Cooper."

 

Seems like for fitment it may be easier to just get alloy wheels from tirerack.com than to get steel wheels.

Width difference of 1/2" is not much from stock sizes and will fit the same sized tire fine for street use.

There are cheap alloy rims these days and they won't rust.