Help! Ferrari wont warranty defective rims

I am having a problem with the ball polished rims on my 2007 F430. I first noticed the rims were starting to have a discolored/corrosive area around the center of the rims about a year ago and the condition has gotten worse over the last year. I have talked to the Ferrari dealer about the problem and first they said they would have them powdercoated to fix the problem, they later said they were going to fix the wheels by sanding them down and applying a silver paint on the wheels and they would be doing this with the rims mounted on the tires, on the car. I was unhappy with them repainting my rims when they are not painted rims to begin with, and I am insisiting they replace the defective wheels, The car is under a full warranty until dec 09. Any thoughts from anyone on getting Ferrari to do the right thing? I have only been dealing with my local ferrari dealer so far. I would be happy to provide pics if anyone cares to see the problem. The rims have never had any harsh chemicals or tire shine put on them and it still has the original tires mounted.

Thanks...

 

Have any dogs visited the wheels? I had that problem years ago on a diff. make of car, the car was under a carport and the dog was using the wheel for a urinal. That is why I will only have female dogs now.

 

That does sound odd to me. Can you post of pics of the wheels? I would like to get a look at what you are describing!

Thanks!

 

Here are some pics.
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Looks like a bad clearcoat finish to me........were your wheels ever refinished before to your knowledge ? Are the OEM ball polished wheels clearcoated from new ?

 

Yea it looks like a layer of clear or some type of chrome finish is coming off, by the pics anyways.

 

The finish is definitely wonky. Acidic cleaners wouldn't leave that kind of damage, the wheels need to be re-worked.

 

It looks like your centercap was holding moisture of some kind and started corrosion. Do they clearcoat the wheels when they ball polish them?? I have seen the exact same thing on cars from North with salty roads, directly around the center cap. I can't imagine this car being exposed to this though.

 

Are the centrecaps plastic or metal? The corrosion looks similar to what happens when you get dis-similar (incompatible) metals together (in which case it would definately be a warranty matter).

 

Ball-polishing isn't polishing. It's paint. BMW 1st used the type of paint on the original Mroadster, and a few cars have been painted in it, most famous is Todt's 599. The bumpers and buttresses aren't metal, but they look like polished metal.

That is a paint issue, they need repainting. Have them pull them off and send them wherever. I've had my "polished aluminum" Audi wheels done a couple times, I have no bloody clue how they do the bushed alloy effect, but it comes out perfect.
Wheel cleaner not made for paint could have etched into clear starting in area behind cap, usually not well painted. Area behind spokes on wheel is another area it can start.
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They are factory rims, that is interesting you say the rims are actually painted? they sure dont look painted, maybe clear coated with something from factory after polishing... I have never used any wheel or rim cleaner besides soap and water. Do you guys think that they are fixing this the right way by repainting the rims while mounted on tires while they are still on the car? because that was how they were going to repair this. I cant imagine paint to fix this, and even if it did hide the problem for a while I think it would be a problem again in the future after the warranty is over.

 

don't feel too bad, ferrari never actually warranties anything. perhaps there have been a few cases but in general their rate of warranty repair is probably less than 10%. I'm sure they would find a way to say you or someone applied something to the wheels and its not covered.

if they are willing to paint them then I would take them up on that offer

 

Hopefully they'll do the right thing. Have you tried talking to the manager?

 

Dont let them paint the rims on the car.. I would rather have that mark then overspray all over everything including calipers.

 

It is hard to tell from the pictures, but in your second pic it looks like the lug nut in the 3 o'clock position is also pitted. If so, it would be strange for both the lug nut and the wheel to have the same problem, unless it was from a chemical applied to the wheel. Since it seems to radiate from the center cap, my guess would be that the Dealer's detail person used a generous amount of some type of wheel dressing/chemical that got trapped as a liquid behind the center cap (even if all of the visible dressing was wiped away). Then, you drove away, and it leaked out, and the wheel (and lug nut) eventually reacted to that brief exposure to that chemical...getting worse over time. Was the car "over the top" detailed upon delivery? If so, then that would be my guess. I had a similar problem with one of my prior Daily Drivers that the dealer's detail person loaded up with some glossy stuff that discolored the wheels in the areas where the liquid pooled up...just took the one time for it to do its damage, which got worse over time.

 

The "center cap" theory sounds pretty good. My car has water behind the center cap, not a Ferrari, and after a wash after I dry it, I drive a couple blocks. I then redry the wheels where the water comes out. I never use a degreaser or anything. The ball polished is really paint and something got under the paint. The thing that happens on gas tanks on bikes is that if they paint into the tank then gas wicks up and under the paint on top of the tank. This could be the thing that is happening with the wheels. Take off the center cap and look at the condition of the paint under the edge of the center cap. If it is loose then you found the problem.

 

What you have there is filiform corrosion under the clear coat, it is seen a lot on aircraft. 2 Main causes:

- Incorrect/faulty treatment prior to topcoat application - I have a patch of this on a rocker panel on my 456,

- The topcoat has been breached (scratches maybe?) and moisture has got under the topcoat.

Only fix is to strip, corrosion treat or sand to fresh metal, re coat.

 

According to the authorized Ferrari only collision center they are not a polished finish but actually painted and clear-coated.

 

In 1999 Mazda offered a polished wheel on the MX5 10th Anniversary Edition. Those wheels had the same problem and were all covered under warranty. It took a while, but they finally acknowledged the problem and took care of everyone affected. Hopefully Ferrari will do the same.

 

Hmm, that's wrong...

While JT's car is prob painted it has nothing to do with "ball-polishing". For starters that car is considered to have a Chrome colour/finish.

Chrome finishes can be done in a few ways either, special chrome paint(which costs over $1k/gallon) like 50cent old Murcielago. Metal-polishing/buffing, vinyl stickers which is becoming common as its a cheaper alternative or of course actual chrome plating.

Ball-polishing is a patented process that BBS use and BBS even explain it on their site.
http://www.bbs.com/en/technology/expertise/technology/inner-shoulder-deformation.html

Then they put a clear coat at the end of it.

Now if you ment the same as PCH:

OEM Ferrari rims are still made by BBS as far as I'm aware. It would be very strange that they would make ball-polished rims different just for Ferrari.

For the OP: Maybe take the rims to an authorised BBS dealer and see what they say then get back to Ferrari.

 

Todt's car is 2 tone if you look. Wheels and roof are "Mercury", the darker grey finish of wheel, and the body, bumpers (fiberglass), park sensors, etc. are all "ball-polished", which is paint.

Ball polishing essentially amounts to shot-peening, which as you know, can make alloys stronger by pre-stressing the metal. Shot-peening doesn't turn out uniform like thateven with clear over it. It also makes metal look porous, which would also not be covered by clearcoat. BBS has "ball-polishing" between spokes as shown on page you cited.

I have other wheels that are "ball polished", and it is paint. I also know other 430's and QP's that have had curb rash repaired, and it is paint, I've seen the wheels stripped.

So yeah, I'm wrong.

BTW, BBS, Becker, Bosch won't touch stuff that is Ferrari OEM. You MUST go through Ferrari/FNA.

OP-Take offer, but have them put it on a lift, pull wheels and dismount tires, and do it. How do you think they'll re-finish lug bolt holes on car? Or shot-peen then clear them if other poster is correct? Not your problem it ties up a stall in shop. That is service department's problem.

Or, I'm wrong again. Good luck.

 

This is a simple problem with a labor intense fix. I can't tell from the pixs if your finish under the clearcoat has paint but I bet it's just polished aluminum. Almost all aluminum wheels have clear coat applied to protect from aluminum oxide. The upside is a long lasting shine or polish, however a break in the skin of the clearcoat will always lead to a milky film to appear under the clearcoat. I'm sure Ferrari will blame it on a tire service that was done sloppily which led to nicks or scratches or maybe road wear on the outer surface of the rims. I personally have fixed mine with removal of the tire off the car and masked the rubber at the bead area. Once this was done I brushed Aircraft Remover on the entire surface which will remove all clearcoat from the surface. Just a warning - if paint is under the clearcoat it will also be removed. After a good cleaning with detergent and water, apply Flitz or similar product to aluminum finish with a little elbow grease - or in my case I use a dremel with polishing bits. Once all this was done I put one more coat of Flitz on by hand and I think the results are far better than those from the factory could ever be. This will consume an entire day with work - however, I think it is worth it. Also, I would never clearcoat my rims once this done because without clearcoat you can always buff to a true mirror finish. Just my experience.

 

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BALL POLISHED PAINT!!!! Chrome paint yes, ball polished is not a paint. SHOW ME PROOF!!!

See now you're confused. 1st you say Ball-Polished is paint, then you mention its penned. Well you can't have it both ways. Either its penned or its paint. Having rims ball-polished THEN painted well that's STILL 2 steps! You can buy ball-polished rims that aren't painted however have only clear-coat applied to them.

Please tell me these people who manufacture the machines they are WRONG as well! I see the word POLISH plenty of times, I don't see the word PAINT. I even have pics of the machine!

Rims with ball polished treatment might have been painted as well, but that doesn't prove me wrong, in fact it could prove that you have been duped and the rims haven't had any ball-polished treatment applied....

Finally I only said to visit BBS for another expert opinion. As obviously Ferrari mechanics aren't rim experts.
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Before we all get too pissy with each other, allow me to toss in my .02 because I have some of these machines in my shop running as I type this.

Ball polishing is indeed using little stainless BB's to pound the surface of a part which evens out the finish and as some say, helps stress-relieve and prevent failure. The finish that you get depends largely on the type and especially the size of the BB's. If you use big ones (like the size of shooting BB's) you get a more coarse effect, or small ones (not much bigger than sand) produce a finer finish. Ball polishing, as a process, does not use any paint nor does it imply the use of paint.

HOWEVER

I hear what Sfumato is saying... from looking at those rims, that doesn't look exactly like a ball-polished-then-clearcoated rim. It does kind of look like it has been painted. There are several paints out there that are very silvery in color...BMW uses such a paint on their wheels. You'd think it was brushed aluminum but it's actually painted.

So, I dont know exactly if these wheels are painted, but from my experience that is corrosion, and it means water is getting to the wheel. As was said before, that's because either they weren't finished right the first time around, or the clearcoated finish (whether it is only clear or clear coat/basecoat is immaterial) has been compromised and has failed.

If it's on all the wheels, it's probably a defect that should be warrantied (unless something like oven cleaner was used on the wheels). If it is only on the one, it could have been from a rock chip or scratch.

I'd push for them to be fixed, but as was said, they should be removed from the car and the tires dismounted. There is no way to fix a rim correctly with the tire on it - no way at all. You simply can't get to the area where the tire is, and you'll get a seam that will fail when the tires come off the next time and expose some of the unfinished area.

 

I guess it depends on your service guy. My local F-car service manager would have that fixed in a heart beat. If it does require painting then let them go that route first but don't except anything less than perfection. If you need to escalate it to regional service guy then do it. See what the dealer will do for you first. GL.