Picked up my 2023 SE last week on Wednesday. First time EV owner and am super happy so far. I was able to get a decent discount off the sticker on the car and that helped push my decision into purchasing it. I am planning to tint the windows, already have the black waistline ordered and in transit. BimmerCode adjustments also coming soon for folding mirrors at lock/unlock, seat belt and startup warning and hoping to add the lock/unlock acoustic confirmation ( car doesn’t have the alarm or the ACC as most 2023’s don’t). Lastly planning to vinyl wrap the fender reflectors front and back. Possible future mods I am thinking are the smoked clear taillights and lowering the car a little. Curious if anyone has feedback on tires, this car came with the Goodyear, another car I was looking at had the roof rails and the hankook tires but liked the cleaner roof line.
Your SE looks great! Love the interior. It makes no sense that MINI doesn't put the black waistline trim on their black cars. Glad you're dealing with that omission. I, too, like the cleaner roof line. I have never missed having roof rails, but my SE doesn't have to work for a living. It's role is to provide driving fun, which it does perfectly.
I was skeptical of the Goodyears originally, but it turns out I love them on my SE. I've finally worn them out so I have to replace them when I put my summer wheels back on and likely will go with the Goodyears again.
I noticed in tirerack you can get the Michelin PS4S tires. I typically like those as they wear very well and provide great overall handling, performance and comfort. Just not sure how things work between various tires in EV’s especially with the smaller range the mini has.
Congrats. I have a black 2023 w/ black tentacles also. About the tires. No experience with the Hankooks, but mine came with Pirelli P7s. My mom has the Goodyears on her 22 SE and they are awesome. They ride so much better than my Pirellis. Hopefully they are still available when my 23 needs replacements.
Congrats on your purchase!! Such a fun little commuter! On your desire for an acoustic lock/unlock confirmation, I have some bad news. Without the factory alarm there is no way to enable this via coding. The only option would be something aftermarket.
Careful, if they have a high rolling resistance they can ruin the range of the SE. I see Tire Rack now has an Electric Vehicle Tuned search option, which is super nice. Some expensive options, but Michelin tires are not listed as EV-tuned by Tire Rack.
Good to know, I will check that out when time comes. Seems like Mini has a few choices of OEM tires between Goodyear, Hankook and Pirelli.
Wow that interior looks great. A good contrast to the all black exterior. I really like the vegan corrugated cardboard door cards! I'd love to lower mine but the missus says no
Just chiming in to say that the Goodyears are way, way grippier than I had expected, and nowhere near as harsh or as loud as I had feared. It remains to be seen how they wear on our roads and surfaces up here, and with the way I drive, but I have my fingers crossed. For balls-out grip, they are pretty damn impressive for OEM tires.
FWIW there’s a set of 17” Team Dynamics Racing Pro Race 1.2 (ie JCW Challenge Cup) wheels with 205/45-17 Indy 500 tires for sale pretty cheap in Racine, WI (between Chicago and Milwaukee).
I saw those, they look really nice. At this point I need to hold off on too many mods as I already promised the wife I wouldn’t do my normal shenanigans and mod the car.
I promised the same, but I think I got a lot of them done surreptitiously and she hasn’t noticed, thinking the car came that way. She only knows about the yellow pinstripes on my winter rims, and thinks it’s stupid. Lol
I was out today on errands and there was a compact dark gray 4 door ICE vehicle that did the yellow stripes on black steelies. Not sure how I feel about that one.
Bwahaha! yeah, we all make those promises. I think they take bets on when we are going to break them.
"John, why are there 4 MINI wheels on our front porch?" If only UPS would let you schedule deliveries to coincide with Book Club!
I can't comment on tire recommendations but another modification suggestion would be wheel spacers. They're not expensive and easy to install and give the mini a bit of a heftier stance. I use 15mm spacers in the front and 20mm in the back. ECS Tuning has some good options. Just be sure you get (the proper) slightly longer lug nuts.
Considering spacers also, not sure if 15/20 is too much. Have any pics? I was thinking 12/15 as I don’t want them to overly poke out. Anyone running the AC Schnitzer lowering springs.
