Wheel frustration

[Airmini1]

Hi, I am a newbie to this whole mini thing,so please forgive me for asking dumb questions....anyway,I just got my 2006 mini cooper base coupe...the stock 15's have to go, I would like to go with bigger wheels,which one would be cheaper to buy tires for 17's or 18's...I hear rumors that 18's will be cheaper in the long run because tires for even numbers(16's,18's) are way cheaper than odd numbers(17')...I would like the 18's but if the above story is false I would not mind setling for 17's.....the stockers must go ASAP so any input would be greatly appreciated.....what are some good places to buy wheels from? I would like to get some all black wheels,i want a stealth look,plus the dog gone brake pads gives off way too much dust for the gray finish and hell no NO CHROME!!!!!!![:@]

[cougsfan]

Guess there is no substitute for going shopping. I would recommend that you don't buy mail order unless you know the exact wheel and the quality of the brand first. It helps to look at the wheel in person. Pictures of wheels are pretty hard to accurately evaluate. I have bought tires mail order before, and found I didn't save that much because by the time you pay a premium price to get them installed and balanced, the savings are usually gone. The only good thing about mail order is that the selection is much greater.
I don't know about odd sizes being more expensive than even sizes. That doesn't make sense. What would make sense is the whatever size has the most sales volume would be lower priced.
I appreciate your statement about brake dust. One thing I look for in a wheel is how easy it is to clean. They vary greatly in that regard.
Let us know what you find.

[Adam]

Who told you even number tires are cheaper? That's actually really funny. Price goes up as wheel size does.

[Airmini1]

I was told that by a local rim shop, in which I will not buy from because they acted like A.holes because I wanted to take time to look at some wheels before deciding, I guess looking at 10 mins. worthof wheels is too much to ask....so I checked other places and 18x7.5 is what they are recomending,I am so overwhelmed with choices and prices!!!! I guess I will have to roll on the stockers for a bit more because I will not be pressured by those sharks....they don't like to budge on their prices....and are always trying to sell some cheap tires with them like nankang,khumos and crapp like that...I don't want to buy tires every 6 months...

[Adam]

18's are really big for the MINI, you're not going to have much tire left to protect the rim or you butt from pot holes.

Most people go with 16s or 17s. I have 17s on mine and definitely wouldn't go any bigger.