Hey all,

After having been inspired by @njaremka and his wheels I recently embarked on an adventure to shamelessly copy him. I was able to locate a set of these wheels locally in good condition and picked them up.

Issue: While these wheels are a 4x100 bolt pattern, the center bore on the wheel is 54.1mm. The Mini hubs are a 56.1mm bore. (i.e. the wheel wont seat on the hub)
Solution: njaremka solved this issue by using a set of 8mm spacers and conical bolts to space the wheels out from the hubs and allow them to be installed. Initially I didn't like the idea of using spacers so I went out and had the wheels' center bores opened up to the mini spec 56.1mm.

New Issue: The JCW calipers are big...
Solution: So after getting the wheels machined I test fit them only to find that the JCW calipers in the front stick out too far and prevent the wheel from seating on the hub. No problem, I can use the 8mm spacers I didn't want to use. (d'oh!!)

So after much effort and moving about I have the wheels installed. I had a set of Michelin A/S 3+'s at 215/45ZR17 installed on the wheels and got them road force balanced. I ended up using the 8mm spacers but they should not cause an issue. I did pick up a set of JCW center cap stickers and installed them on the Mazda caps and they fit perfect!

So without further ado...pics!

 

Love it!

 

I have the BBS Wheels from the "Brembo" package...

Those do fit without rubbing... but again... I had to have the the Center Bore (CB) precision machined to 56.1mm....

Thinking to do it again... I would simply run 10mm spacers on there... that are hub-centric... with the 56.1mm bore and a 54.1 hub ring...
10mm seems to be the minimum thickness of spacer that will still give you the function of the hub centered wheel. (I prefer this)

Wheel studs are a big help too.

 

Nice! I much preferred the regular GT wheels though as they are so much more open. I like that look (shows off the brakes more) and it makes them much easier to clean too. To me, those BBS wheels don't look that much different than the R112 Mini wheels. They are probably lighter though so that is an advantage.

I would foresee a couple issues with your spacer thought though.

The first is that the hub boss on the mini is a little over 10mm. The spacers sizes I have seen jump from an 8mm spacer with no added boss (leaves around 2-3mm of original boss protruding) to a 12mm with a boss. Both of these technically retain the hub-centric fitment. Personally I would prefer the 12mm as the boss is a little more substantial but I think that would push my wheels out too far and I would run into rubbing issues on the fenders.

The other concern is that what you are describing is more of an adapter plate than a normal spacer. You would have to get it custom made with the differing bore diameters. I think you would also have to go to at least a 12mm spacer if not 15mm to ensure there this is enough meat above the end of the mini hub boss to allow the smaller diameter boss for the Mazda wheel to be machined in. Not a bad idea though as it might even be cheaper to get those custom made than having the wheels precision bored (it ran me $300 for mine to be bored).

As an aside, I was able to get the 8mm spacers to work and the wheels seem to be well centered. I was able to get the bolts fully torqued with the wheel off the ground so the conical lugs were able to do their thing. The schwaben wheel hanger tool is a godsend for this as well. I can't imagine trying to install these without that thing.

 

Jwzimm, you make a great point about the hub-spigot being taller ... I think the Miata wheels are great options... and threads like this let people know more about them rather than just 'writing the off' as not viable.... so, thank you for the tread and all the great info.... Just supplementing a bit with my experience also, I hope that is OK for you.

With the OE-Mazda wheel already 3mm outward (on the Mazda-Factory Miata ET45 wheels).... I'd want to keep any spacer thickness as minimum as possible too.

I also bought a set of the spoked Miata wheels.... all personal preference, had them cut and found the same interference issue as you did with the JCW brake setup.... then I ran across the forged OE-Miata Club BBS wheels that I liked (great price)... With the hub center cut those bolted right on (I made a template this time BEFORE cut )

I currently have a very open set of 18" Advan RS2's on the car.... and am shifting the look.... cross Spokes .... and something else... I like the Rotiform NUE's... even more closed off

The BBS would be more for a winter set...but maybe for summer if I like them .... not sure yet. They are getting re-painted at the local body shop with a warmed up titanium bronze-silver to compliment warmer tones of the Pepper White on the car. I have a set of the Borbet-MINI-Challenge (R112 style) wheels here... still heavy at over 20lbs. The Mazda wheels (spoked or BBS) are a slam dunk in terms of quality upgrade for low money... and side by side... they are noticeably more open than the 112's.... though, at first glance, you would think, "same".

When you go 8mm thick on the R56 hub with a 'plain spacer' (the non lipped/flanged type).... and the wheels themselves have a more than a 2mm deep chamfer on them.... there really is no 'hub centering' going on with Mazda wheels from my checks... it didn't seat deep enough into the hub with the extra 5/16" thickness of the spacer there and the 6mm spacers still didn't give enough clearance for brakes. 'Scratching' off the 1mm-radius on the chamfer bore really didn't change that.

I've used US wheel spacers (USWS) with great luck on different vehicles... https://www.uswheeladapters.com/shop/4-lug-slip-on/
I called and owner of USWS he said that he can do the 10mm thickness in flanged/lipped, but that would be the minimum thickness for hub spigot.

I measured the hub spigot height, with rotor mounted, at a hair under 9mm on my car...but there very well could be variations in part dimensions from year to year... vendor to vendor (even within OEM).... I'd have zero issue machining the factory spigot shorter bit in order to keep the spacer as thin as possible.... (shorter... but I wouldn't machine the diameter). I'd do that with an on-car brake-lathe... but could also get good results with a careful use of a grinder with a helper in the car, running the fronts axles that were jacked up with wheels removed (bolt down the rotors tho) .... I't would come out nearly as clean. With this, it would be possible to run an 8mm thick lipped/flanged spacer... If I bend a wheel and need to replace a wheel... this is what I'll do... go with a set of 8mm spacers, with 3@ 56.1/56.1 and one 56.1/54.1 to keep them all the same spacing and not need to machine the replacement wheel center bore while still retaining hub centering.. which is my personal preference, though many use lug-centered setups with great luck!s


Pic of the BBS Wheels on Miata... very open with thin-spokes... for a 'CrossSpoke' wheel, IMO.
The lightweight and that they are forged made a difference as you pointed out.









It would be easy to trim down the height of the spigot a bit.... and still keep enough to return to factory wheels with no spacers and retain the hub centric aspects.



The Advans on my R56.... though the ND Spoked are even a bit more open. (moving on from these though)













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Wow! Thanks for all that info. You have definitely done a great amount of research on this!

When I measured the hub spigot I actually measured closer to 11.2mm protrusion from the face of the rotor but I was not super precise about placement of the calipers. You may be right that there is variation between years or perhaps front hub vs. rear hub. In any case, with the 8mm spacer in place at each hub the wheel would engage the hub spigot but only just. I doubt very much there is going to be any load transfer through the hub spigot in this configuration. That is why I made sure to use the conical seat lug bolts and fully torqued them down, in stages, with the wheel in the air. This should ensure a centric installation in any case. Hopefully it stays put and I will definitely be watching for any new vibrations to show up.

To be honest, my goal was not to spend too much money, ditch the run-flats the car came with, and get a good looking set of wheels. I really didn't want to deviate much at all from the base design by modifying the hubs. (heck, I didn't even want to use spacers) I don't track the car at all and daily drive it. I am very happy with how it came out.

 

And that right there is what it's all about. With your careful setup, and methodical mounting... I'm sure they will give you lots of great service running true !

You have a VERY high quality set of wheels... better quality than most of the aftermarket options for the MINI which huge.

I also got both sets of MIATA Club wheels with excellent condition tires (Michelins and Bridgestones)... and the price was AWESOME!
I was quoted $75 - $150 per wheel for the machining from a reputable shop.

The machining can be tough to find at a reasonable price... mine was free from a friend at a machine shop that didn't even flinch.... took longer to load into the machine than to shave the 1mm off the wheel bore.

Some people don't have access to machine shops.... so, with some shopping around.. easy to find a set of spacers to do the job correctly at a fair price. And, in general, with all of the factory Miatas out there... a great supply of wheels if you ever bend/damage one... and bolt that wheel on !






.

 

I was lucky that I found three shops in my area that could open up the bores. Prices were around $50 to $75 per wheel.

You are correct though, not everyone would have access to a machine shop capable of properly doing this work while keeping the bore absolutely centered. There is also the future concern of damaging a wheel and needing to replace it.

In any case, I am very happy with how it turned out and really love the look. I also very much enjoy not having my fillings knocked out over every bump from those wretched RFT's! Incidentally, I also obtained the Mini space saver spare along with the required spacer to allow it to fit over the rear JCW calipers. I am now set to go anywhere and not be stuck if I got a flat. :D

 

Bump in this thread because ND Miata wheels on a Mini are cool. And...

If anyone is considering some Miata wheels for their Mini, I found these on craigslist this afternoon:
https://norfolk.craigslist.org/wto/d...149965949.html

At $500 asking price, including a set of snow tires, seems like you could score a pretty decent deal.

 

Couple more sets of Miata wheels popped up recently on the Miata.net forum:
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=728686
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=728245

Prices seem reasonable, they may be willing to negotiate. Second set includes tires.

 

Another great deal on Miata wheels, local pick up in Elkton, MD:
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=728742

 

@noahnole recently added Miata wheels to his R56:

 

And, I just wanted to add my car to this thread:

 

Yup, got my new wheels installed this weekend. Purchased the set brand new for $700, not too bad especially seeing as I was likely going to be spending more on a fresh set of tires. Because they're brand new they have the Bridgestone Potenza S001's mounted - not my first choice but should be fun to have some stickier tires coming from hard all seasons (DWS 06's.) I went with @njaremka's setup with the 8mm ECS spacers and longer lug bolts for the time being - worked like a charm! Will be figuring out what to do about those mazda center caps (so far this is the first thing people ask about, lol) I'll probably go for the standard 'MINI' center caps, though I'll be honest I'm tempted to go for the JCW caps for the hint of red. Admittedly it's a bit cheaty but would love to hear your thoughts. Also need to get my brake calipers cleaned up since you can see them so well now lol! Here are some additional photos!

 

Pop the Mazda center caps out of the wheels, remove the "M" logo, and apply a set of these to the caps:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/36136786764/

 

Looks great!

You could go with “S” center caps for a hint of red, but having that many red S’s will probably be too much.

 

Ran into my first hiccup when getting home from work yesterday. TPMS Inactive! The car is in the process of trying to reset it using the option in the spedo menu, but should I expect it to re-learn with the Miata sensors? The Miata wheels I have came off of a 2020 or 2021 model year so I'm 99% sure it has them, just not sure if they're compatible with the MINI. Thoughts?

 

I do not believe them to be compatible. They run on different frequencies - Mazda runs at 315Hz, and Mini runs at 433Hz.

 

Those wheels look good.

 

So this week my car broke down (again) and is currently stuck in my driveway with a seized caliper :( I'm taking advantage of the situation though and have ordered a set of Budweg rebuilt JCW Brembos for the front! I ordered from here. I'm really really excited to see how these look/perform, especially with the ND club wheels! Looking at @jwzimm 's original post I should be good to go with the 8mm spacers. Will be sure to post pictures when I get my baby up and running again!

 

Here we are! Rebuilt JCW 4 pistons with the ND Miata wheels! Also got the MINI center caps installed on all 4 corners. Really happy with how this thing looks right now, hopefully it stays working for longer than a month this time lol

 

Love it!

 

gonna shop for a set of miata wheels for summer tires, would someone please share spacers part no, site and conical bolts work for jcw clubby?

Found them! https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-part...24ecs01b08kt2/

For those w JCW front brake calipers, did you end uinstalling spacers in the back? 8mm shouldn't make that much of a difference....

 

I was going to suggest ECS. I run the spacers front and back.

 

Thank you Nik, I assume swapping wheelsets (winter) and summer would be straightforward?