This. The factory stereo in my 2002 Carrera has rubberized knobs. The volume knob, which I use all the time, is nice and clean, but the tuning knob, which I never touch, has turned disgusting and sticky like it's melting.

I think it has more to do with the plastic degrading over time. It happens a lot to the plastic in home appliances. It gets kind of sticky, disgusting , uncleanable.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

...have a friend with an '01 550 Maranello, always garaged, about 20K miles... same thing happened. Whatever polymer was used back in that era was apparently common among manufacturers, and like all polymers, they deteriorate with time. Think of the polyurethane foam hood pads, like on my '88 190E 2.6. The second one has pretty much disintegarted. At best they last maybe ten years, and that includes time sitting on the shelf in inventory before they are sold and installed. They begin to deteriorate the moment they come out of the mold!

The Ferrari dealer in Costa Mesa, CA removed all the switches and sent them to a specialist for restoration. I think it took close to a month. They now look and feel like new. I don't know anything about the process is, but it was expensive.

You might want to contact a Ferrari dealer and see if they can point you to a specialist who can restore the items, but be prepared for a big bill.

Duke