Swapping wheels prior to taking delivery...

[afromanbob]

I've heard of many people saying that the wheels they'd be getting on their Cooper, or Cooper S, or whatever that haven't been pleasing to them, say that they did a swap with the dealer. What I'd like to do, if possible (which I suppose is ultimately up to the dealer, but I'd like to know if it's been done) is switch my 16" 5-stars that are coming with my Sport Package to the 16" x-lites that come stock on the Cooper S. Since according to the accserories catalog they are the same price, the dealer should have no problem doing this if they have some "just laying around," right? How would I go about asking the dealer this, because it seems like a rather odd request, one that only us fanatics here at mini2 would ask ? I really like the x-lites and plus they are lighter, and don't come with run-flats (right?) as I'll be getting SS+, and would like to make the ride a little smoother without having to shell out several hundred dollars that I don't really have for better tires.

[MINIAC]

All 16" wheels come from the factory with runflats. The R83 wheels have H-rated summer tires and the R84 wheels have V-rated all-season tires. The runflats on the R84 wheels are a little more expensive.

If the dealer has some trade-in R84 wheels laying around they might do the swap, but they may charge you to do so.

Just ask them ...

[afromanbob]

How much more expensive are the tires? And I'm guessing since they both have run-flats that the ride quality would be the same?

[MINIAC]

I was only comparing the price on Dunlops at the Tire Rack:

Dunlop SP Sport 3000A DSST @ $119 [Summer]

Dunlop SP Sport 5000A DSST @ $137 [All-Season]

I just saw the Goodyears that are sometimes fitted to Coopers:

Goodyear Eagle NCT5 EMT @ $165

The Tire Rack classifies the Goodyears as "Grand Touring Summer" and the Dunlops as "Ultra High Performance".

I don't think tire replacement cost will factor into the dealers decision of whether they'll do a tire swap.

One 16" runflat probably rides like any other

[afromanbob]

Hmm.... That'd be cool if the dealer did this for me. Is this a common thing for the dealer to do, or will they be confused by the request?

[Mini Lou]

Well when I was getting mine, I got the Chilli pack which had the 16" 5 star ones as standard, I wanted the R90's. As an extra for non Chilli pack cars the 5 star wheels were listed as 900 (euro) so the dealers gave me that amount off the cost of the R90's.