The SEs with Power Spoke wheels come with a little wire hook in the rear kit. You stick that hook into a hole in the extended center-cap and pull off the extended center-cap to reveal the wheel bolts.
Did you find this tool? Before I was informed that tool was in the tire repair kit, I asked the same question you did and @F14Scott had a hilarious response.
Do you know about the special adapter required to balance a Power Spoke wheel? It simulates the weight of the off-center extended center cap while the wheel is on the tire-balancing machine. If you don't have one, you'll have to go to your MINI dealer to get new tires installed. A chap in Britain didn't know about this and suffered horrendous wheel vibrations after having his wheels balanced without this adapter. I bought one from a BMW parts dealer online for under $30.
I discovered the little tool while exploring the repair kit as well. I was disappointed that neither my dealer nor the manual made any mention of it. That reminds me I was going to print out the manual for the repair kit in case I ever need it on the side of the road. @insightman Is there a link to acquire the balancing tool? I wonder if it would be smart to have one in the boot just in case I need to go somewhere other than a dealer, or if enough time passes that dealers forget about them.
Here you go: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-mini-parts/adapter/83302471407/ I keep it in my glovebox.
Nice, thanks. Are those "balancing process" instructions on the back of the wheel? That image seems to point to some kind of manual? Seems like that'd be handy to have on hand too.
That sticker is on the backside of the cover. There may be more info in the manual, but I don't know what other info you could need.
Two questions related to power spoke wheels... Are the rectangular 'plug' outlines diamond cut and subject to corrosion? Is the yellow mini circle in the middle built into the cover piece, or is it removable? I'm wondering if it's possible to replace it with mini's self-leveling caps.
The "plug" outlines are plastic. The mini badge is built into the cover piece, which I learned the hard way.
Looks aside, has anyone done any testing to determine if the Power Spoke wheels provide any aerodynamic (and therefore range) advantage? My overall impression is that wheel aerodynamics have an almost immeasurable impact, which is contrary to common belief.
Really‽ I know the pie wedge pieces are plastic (white arrow), but I thought the rest of it was alloy, apart from the cover, of course. The red arrow is the bit I'm interested in.
I drive with Power Spoke and seem to get almost 160 mi range (well over 5 kW/h). I also weighed them and they are very light, weighing 39.4 pounds with tires on.
Sound to me like English try to build and rediscover square wheel .That is not BMW design.Could be a joke on my side .
I'm 99% sure the bit pointed at is plastic, but I'm more than 1,000 miles from my car so I can't check.
The white arrow points to plastc; red arrow points to aluminum. This post shows a Power Spoke rim with the wheel cover removed. After nearly 2 years in my basement where they're safe from greedy curbs, my Power Spokes have shown no trace of corrosion. MINI says the Power Spokes are their lightest 17" rims and I'm sure they're the most aerodynamic, too. However, lighter 16" rims might still provide greater range than the aero Power Spokes. Which rims provide the greater range might depend on how frequently you drive on expressways where there is less accelerating and where good aerodynamics offer a greater advantage.
Based on that post the light gray part should be plastic to be consistent with the cover, the inner gray being the (aluminum) rim itself. Maybe the dark gray is a plastic cladding on top of the rim. What a time to be away from my SE. But aluminum corrosion is a generally protective layer of aluminum oxide, so it's nothing to worry about.
I posted that link to illustrate that the wheel bolt holes are in the gray-painted aluminum center. There is clearly a break between the aluminum spokes and the four plastic fillers, but no break between the polished aluminum and the gray-painted aluminum.
The aerodynamic impact of wheel design is very measurable and good vs bad aero can be more than 5% difference in the total vehicle drag. The most significant parameter is percentage of open area. The more closed off a wheel is, the lower the drag (see both attached) with the exception that it can get a bit worse with a fully closed wheel. Wheel design was much less significant so power spoke vs other mostly would depend on open area
