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First off, I'm pretty excited to be a part of the mini community. My first week with the car has been pretty great. This isn't a great photo, but I snapped it leaving work today just for reference.
Here's where I'm at. I'm using the car as a daily in CT. It will see harsh winters and beat to hell roads. In the summer it will be on the track and auto at auto-x's. Not anything competitive, just to have a good time. Being it's a daily, I want to retain the ride height, and I want a compliant ride that can handle these roads.
As I'm new to mini, for some reason I assumed these stock wheels were 16's. I have no idea why I did that; I didn't even look at them hard when buying the car. I knew I'd be ripping off the garbage all seasons and replacing with winters. Today I took a look so I could buy winters, low and behold, 17's! So here's my dilemma. The 17's aren't actually that bad ride quality wise. Before this, I just drove my E36 M3 daily. But now I want to go down to 16's for lower weight wheels and a little more plush ride. What does everyone think about 16" wheels with 205/55-16s for winter? I figure I can go from there for a summer setup. Is that too much sidewall with a high-performance summer tire, and how wide of a wheel/tire combo can I fit for summer?
Last, what are some good CHEAP 16" wheel options that are lighter than stocks that would be good for winter?
Congratulations, that's a good looking car. Personally, I would keep the 17s for summer and go with 16s for winter, if you like. Multiple upsides. Changing between winters and summers is so much easier with two sets of wheels -- you can do it yourself in under an hour. Less wear and tear on the wheels at the tire shop. Better summer handling, particularly if you go with non-run flats.
For my Countryman, I bought a used set of 17s, from a NAM member, for my winter wheels. It's an inexpensive option that keeps the factory look.
You have a 2003-2005 R53 so there are options on wheels from 15" to 18" that will fit depending on your front brake calipers (JCW brakes are larger and won't fit 15" wheels).
With stock suspension these tire sizes should work OK for winter and the wheels you have now are fine.
Now with your budget you can get better lighter wider wheels for performance driving such as for autocross, track or driving school and better Extreme Summer tires like Bridgestone RE71R in 205/45 or 215/45. 17x7" wheels are about 20-25 lbs for OEM so under 19 lbs is good for a decent price. Tirerack has many wheels in various prices.
Buying 16" wheels for winter doesn't require getting something that weighs less than OEM and its for winter anyway.
For now you can get 17" winter tires and mount them on your current wheels. Shop for race wheels and tires and get them later or store them for the spring. If you shop at tirerack you can save on mounting and balancing of tires to wheels purchased together and shipped.
