Provided herein is a method for pretreating aluminum materials, particularly aluminum wheels, wherein an aluminum material is successively i) cleaned and subsequently rinsed, ii) optionally subjected to alkaline pickling and subsequently rinsed, iii) optionally contacted with an aqueous composition comprising at least one mineral acid, iv) optionally rinsed and v) contacted with an acidic aqueous composition comprising a) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium and hafnium compounds and b) at least one linear terpolymer prepared by controlled radical polymerisation and comprising vinylphosphonic acid monomeric units, hydroxylethyl- and/or hydroxylpropyl-(meth)acrylate monomeric units and (meth)acrylic acid monomeric units, vi) optionally rinsed, vii) optionally contacted with another aqueous composition, viii) optionally rinsed and ix) optionally dried. Further provided herein is a corresponding composition as well as the use of the materials treated according to the method.