A tifosi, and now newly committed!

Greetings!

I have just done my deal on a 1999 550 - thanks to all on this site whose written advice I poured over. I have attached a couple of pictures - it's not in my possession as yet, but before Christmas, I will have in my storage garage. Sadly, it's really winter here, but that just means I will appreciate it more when the weather turns!

The only thing I don't like are the wheels on the car. Can anyone please advise where the "best place" is to find the "proper" wheels for this vehicle. I like the wheels on Terry Phillips/Taz's car and also the smoother 5-spoke design of the wheels on the yellow car (see picture below). Sorry - have not been able to find the correct names for these wheels as yet.

And ultimately, I will want to sell the wheels that are on the car now - any suggestions as to where would be the best place for that?

Thanks - this is my first Italian car (lots of German vehicle seat time; still own several), so any suggestions you may have are greatly appreciated. I already have the appropriate clothing from F1, so I have that covered!

Freddie
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Congratulations on the new car!
Enjoy it in good health when spring arrives for you.
As far as the wheels go, the ones that Taz has are very nice and also expensive.
You can find some very good used sets of the originals for a fair price on Ebay motors.

Congrats on the car again.

 

That's a nice Maranello, Freddie. Congratulations! Drive it in good health

Be careful. There are still several sets of recalled magnesium wheels on eBay.

Barry

 

Great car, you're going to love it.

I like the stock wheels also, shouldn't be too hard to find a set but as Barry said be aware of the recalled mag wheels out there.

Good luck with it and welcome to the 550 forum.

 

Freddie

Having recently purchased my 575 I know how you must feel.

Keep the feeling alive and live the passion!

Congratulations and welcome to the family.

Walter

 

Thanks for clarifying, I was not aware of that.
I learned something new today.

 

Pics so you can be sure of what you are buying.

Top pic is Aluminum which is what you want

Bottom pic is Mag which should be a crime to sell.

Notice the section of the spokes, its easy to tell by that
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ferrari wheels for sale ? ferrariads for sure. especially for a limited production beast like that.

what sizes are they ?

i have a front and rear 550/barchetta modulars 18" for sale.

 

Freddie,

Dave has posted the aluminum and magnesium wheels for comparison. Make sure the vendor posts pictures of the inner aspects of the wheels to be sure they are the updated aluminum wheels.

During the recall, 550 owners with magnesium wheels were provided the updated aluminum wheels in exchange. The Ferrari dealerships were instructed to destroy the magnesium wheels.

There's more about this here: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283818

and here: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235452

Barry

 

You're gonna love it here!

 

Hey everyone;

Thanks for the replies. I knew about the wheel issue, but wasn't sure which were which. Now I know! Awesome!

Looking forward to spring....

 

Congrats... I like the red interior.
Hope you get a nice day to take her out!
Welcome and Enjoy!
Bill

 

Hey all;

My new car arrived about 3 weeks ago in -20 weather. I got to drive it (ha-ha), that is, I sat in the driver's seat while it was pushed off the transport truck onto the flatbed and then from the flatbd into the storage garage where it waits for Spring!

Before it was shipped I had some maintenance done in CA. Steve Maxwell, btw, awesome guy down in San Diego. But what he discovered is that the original 550 radio had been replaced with "something else", including a lousy installed subwoofer that was draining the battery. That radio rests in a box in the trunk (for now).

Does anyone have an idea if a 550 radio can be found? Personally, I don't need a high end stereo - 12 cylinders is enough music for me!

grazia!

Freddie
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Joey- Welcome back. Your wheels look like HREs. Keep an eye out for somebody selling 360 or F430 Novitec NF2s, too. Those are the same wheels exactly that are on my car, except the F430 rear wheels are 20". The NF3s are even nicer, but twice as expensive. Have never seen a set of those on a Maranello, but think they would look great. Our sponsor Exotica sells both and I bought my set new from them.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

JoeyZed,

Not sure which radio came stock in your 99 550 but Ferrari Service of Costa Mesa has a few 550 cars being parted out.
They might have a radio to sell. Give them a call.

http://mysite.verizon.net/res1la3r/id42.html

Obviously make sure the radio works okay before buying it, since the car may have experienced some sudden jolts when it was wrecked.
Does any one else know of a Ferrari salvage yard for used Ferrari parts?

Also, periodically check eBay. Every now and then a set of wheels and other parts for a 550 show up on there.

 

I have a set of 360 wheels that came with my 550 as "the original wheels". It also came with the Novitec's. At the time I thought they were for my car. I checked the serial numbers and they are for the 360 (164173, 164175). Did the mag problem exist on the 360's ?

 

No problem with 360 wheels. 360 wheels are too narrow for a Maranello by a full inch in front (7.5" vs 8.5") and 1/2" in the rear (10" vs 10.5"). They still seem to work, though, because there is also an owner with same width F430 wheels on his Maranello, but they must really compromise handling and braking.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Congrats! I looked this car over closely and considered purchasing it. When I called back, it had been sold. Then the car appeared on this site for sale by the buyer. Same seller? A beautiful car for the money.