Here is borrowed reply from John Petrich on NAM “...many posters, myself included, are advocating the 0.035" spark plug gap in MINI's that are tracked, and those using after market pulleys; regardless of the coil pack, regardless of wire changes, regardless of coil driver modifications. The simple reason being that the pulleyed engine in a sustained high output engine environment, like the track or dyno, challanges the spark capabilites of the ignition system. We see this combustion chamber stress with engine missing and measurable reduction in engine HP on the dyno. It is now standard practice to run approximately 0.035" spark plug gap for tuned MINI's. This generally accepted gap of 0.035" conviently corresponds to the "as manufactured" gap of the new Iridium spark plugs. The resultant reduction in engine missing and in power output is not "gained" power but less "lost" power. A lot of people do run much larger spark plug gaps, say the stock 0.065" up to 0.085", and do just fine for street use. In fact, people attribute improved engine smoothness and mileage from these larger plug gaps. But, these large plug gaps don't stand up on the track or dyno”.
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com...highlight=.035
So for an average
MCS operating on the street the .045 gap would be ok. Because my MINI is fairly modified, I often accelerate hard, and it gets very hot around here, I set my NGK BKR7EIXs to .035.