[Fen]

At long last my Mini has arrived in NZ. Although it took a fair bit longer than I did to get here it has already been granted citizenship, and I guess a new name "Ely":

[demi]

she looks a beaut, what wheels are on the car? and whats the gtt filter in the car? last questions how many minis in new zeland lol!

[I love MINI, Laura]

Ely looks fab congrats I hope she enjoyed the journey!!

[MINI-Morgan]

Very nice

[Fen]

Thanks folks. I think Ely enjoyed the trip - there is no sign of being the worse for it anyway.

Wheels are Rota Slipstream 17x7.5" in flat black. I used to live not too far from the guys at Rare Rims | Rota Wheels UK and I had had a set of Rotas before. They are very light and some slightly unusual designs, mostly "JDM" intended for Civics or Imprezas etc. but they come in most fittings and suit most 15-18" applications with common FWD car offsets.

The air filter is the GTT CAI, which is part of the 230+ kit the car has fitted. As with all my GTT stuff (apart from the rear brace) my instruction has always been "black wherever there is an option". Again as with all the GTT bits I have I'm impressed with it. It was all fitted by Roland before Ely left the UK.

There aren't many Minis in NZ. Here they are considered "European" which is sort of like we think of German cars in the UK but more so (as in quite expensive, premium products), although Fiats and Peugeots are considered European also so carry a premium. Add to that fact the Mini is expensive for what it is even in Europe and it isn't the most practical car even for its size and it's a niche model.

There are only 3 Mini dealers in the whole country and only about 6 or 7 R53 models for sale at any one time through them, with maybe another 6 or so for sale elsewhere. Possibly because they are so premium and niche the cabrio seems to be almost as popular as the hatch. Lastly (and part of the reason I brought one) is that the ones available have low spec - all of them have manual air con but not all are Chilli pack and they have few other options. Ely has almost everything apart from full leather and sunroof.

as a price guide there is a low-spec pre-facelift 2004 S Works with aero kit in DS/W (not sure the mileage) in the Wellington dealer showroom for $41,000, which is nearly £16,500. They also have an e30 M3 Cabrio in red with 193,000km on it and a RHD conversion for $99,000 - near as dammit £40k! i wish I'd brought one of them - a mate would have sold me a red low miles coupe converted to RHD when new (and approved by BMW) for less than half that...

The R56 was launched later here than in the UK and I've hardly seen any of them. The Clubman is being officially launched next month I think.