I got my R56 in 2018 and have been using cast wheels. Since owning this car, I've been having an issue with bent wheels and on average, have had to replace one wheel per year. I live in the suburbs and most of my driving is on the highway, to and from downtown.

I'm not sure if this is a MINI thing, a (cheap) cast wheels on a MINI thing, or I just have bad luck with wheels...but I'm looking at getting a set of forged wheels in hopes of never having to replace a wheel again (looking at BC Forged's RS40).

My mechanic and tire guy are surprised by how many wheels I've had to replace and don't have much advice for me, so I'm hoping this forum can provide some insight.

Thanks!

 

Are you running the OEM 17” wheels? You could get a little better protection by dropping down to a set of 16” wheels. They would also be lighter, giving better throttle response and fuel mileage.

 

I've been using 17" for summer and 16" for winter – both sets are cast. I've never used cast wheels until I got this car, so I have no sense of whether that's the nature of cast wheels and if the extent to the wheel damage I've experienced so far could've been avoided with forged wheels.

 

There are many cast and forged wheels that are durable or may be prone to damage. Some depends on your roads and the rest on your tire size and strength of the wheel itself.

Cast wheels are usually heavier and strong because they are built with more material but not always. Forged are strong and lighter but still can be damaged by stiff low profile tire sizes and bad roads. A light weight track wheel is not going to hold up on bad roads for daily driving. Even after a year or two a good forged wheel may crack or be bent.

Doesn't sound like your roads are that good but you know where you drive.

16" wheels will give you tire sizes that are more in the 50 and 55 series range for sidewalls which is better for cushioning, 17" wheels more in the 45 series sidewalls and some are XL load rated which make them a little stiffer.

Any road level changes (dips and bumps) can be a problem so watch your speed over anything not smooth and always be careful driving in areas you don't know well or when it is dark or in bad weather. Even changing to a lane that you don't always use on a familiar road can lead to driving over more hazard.
Running over stuff also is a risk if there are many trucks that use your roads.

MINI cast wheels are usually pretty strong (and heavy). What tires are your using? Which wheels got bent? Summer or winter wheels?

 

During non-winter seasons, I've been using BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2 A/S tires on 17" Maxxim Maze wheels. For winters, I've been using Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 tires on 16" RTX Bern wheels. I've damaged two Maxxims and one RTX beyond repair (one Maxxim was bent, one was cracked, and can't remember the deal with the RTX).

I'm thinking of getting 17" BC Forged RS40's and use them year-round. I'd get them in 16, but they don't make them that size. My understanding is that I would be less likely to damage these wheels and if I did, it'd likely be repairable. Based on my track record with cast wheels, I'm conditioned to expect to have to replace one every year, but it would be pretty devastating if I needed to replace a forged wheel that costs 4x as much every couple to few years.

I'm in the Greater Toronto Area and the roads have been particularly bad for potholes the last couple of years, and we seem to have endless construction going on.

 

I think the 17x7 and 17x7.5 RS40 wheels
are about 15-16#. Pretty strong forged
wheels but they certainly can be
bent or cracked like a good quality 20-24#
cast wheel can when given some robust abuse.

 

It's tough if your roads are just poor and the risk is always present no matter how careful you are. The RS40 looks like a very decent forged wheel. However there is always risk of damage with a road hazard. Driving with extra care is a prudent approach.

With 17" wheels the best you can do is find a tire in 215/45-17 or similar. If you only have one set of wheels then maybe All Season Ultra High Performance or Grand Touring Tires.

I don't think I could say that going with Forged wheels will prevent damage to your wheels with street driving compared to Cast wheels. Other than where you live I don't think you are the reason for damage risk per se. When you did damage your wheels do you remember hitting a pothole or other hazzard specifically?

I know that I sometimes hit a pothole and it sounds really bad but on inspection things are still OK, while at other times you may not even remember how wheels were damaged.

In my history of driving my MINI since 2003 on many different roads and with many different sets of wheels I have never bent a wheel but did crack a few forged 13 lb 17x7" wheels with track use. The forged wheels were replaced and the spoke design was beefed up with some added weight.

 

Thanks for all your insight! It's really helpful, but making my decision even harder. I'm starting to think I should just stick to the more affordable cast wheels, be extra careful, and accept that I may need to replace a wheel every 1-2 years.

Of the three wheels I've damaged, it was only with the RTX that damage was immediately obvious – I went over a small piece of board on the highway (it looked maybe like 3/4" plywood, about 1x2 ft) and it didn't feel like much as I went over it, but as soon as I did, I could feel there was damage.

Of the two Maxxims, one of them I eventually noticed something felt off and had my car looked at and the other, my mechanic noticed when I was changing to my winters. As careful as I try to be, there's that pothole that seems to come by once a year that sounds particularly bad as I inevitably go over it, but except for that piece of board with the RTX, I've never gone over something and knew for sure that, that was the culprit of damage.

 

Hey Polly! How’ve you been? I was wondering if you still had your MINI.

16” with its taller sidewall should help to reduce damage and might give a little performance increase as well, depending on the overall weight of the combo. A wheel made with flow forming tech or something similar should have a strength and weight somewhere between cast and forged at a reasonable cost... something like OZ Alleggerritas or an Enkei Racing wheel using MAT technology.

Check out Tire Rack for wheel and tire combos that would come mounted and balanced and ready to install.

 

Hey Dave, long time! Other than the wheel issue, Guinness and I are doing well :P though he's been resting for the past month while we wait for a replacement wheel.

I briefly considered a flow formed wheel before, but like now with going forged, I got mixed feedback – mostly either along the lines of what you're saying, that "it's a good compromise", or that it's gimmicky or won't make a noticeable difference in terms of preventing damage.

Do flow formed wheels have a higher probability of being repairable than cast wheels? Whenever I look at flow formed options, I always go back to the Konig Dekagram.

 

If wheel is repairable may depend more on the extent of the damage than how the wheel is made. Is flow formed stronger than cast wheel? Maybe, but hard to say unless it is tested and in the case of a specific wheel it might be difficult to assess accurately.

Yes, using cast wheels and 16" size tires is a safer and less costly approach but it all depends on your priorities and acceptance that sometimes things go wrong and it's part of driving your MINI on your roads. I don't think you are doing anything particularly risky with your driving habits.

So when I drive for performance I use 17" wheels or tire sizes around 15 to 16" wheels that give me smaller tire diameter but I don't drive them on the street. For daily driving I use cheap MINI 15" wheels and 195/55-15 tires. Performance is noticably different with the street setup but much more friendly to road hazzards.

 

Thanks for this. I think I'm fully turned away from forged (at least for now), will try to be extra cautious, and depending on how things go, either carry on or try getting a set of flow formed.

 

I’m not sure if flow forming is a gimmick, or not, but the marketing from different companies says their versions of it make the properties of the wheel somewhere between cast and forged foe weight and strength. The Dekagrams look good, and are a very good price compared to OZ’s, but if they end up getting damaged, is it “you get what you pay for” or flow-forming is just marketing hype.

The damaged cast wheels you posted where both aftermarket. Have you had any Factory MINI wheels damaged too?

 

I sold the set of OEM wheels that came with my car shortly after I got it.

 

If staying with cast you’ll probably have better luck with OEM’s as they are usually over built. The downside is OEM’s tend to weigh a lot, but 16’s will help a little with that and ​​​​​​also give you some added protection from a larger sidewall.

 

OEM wheels can be heavy and overbuilt but some are OK on weight and work for most owners, there is quite a bit to choose from. The MINI wheels that come with your car may or may not be good for your purposes.

Name brand aftermarket wheels usually can work out and you have a choice of widths, diameters and offsets as well as colors or finishes.

I stay clear of off brand wheels and tires, just not good quality.