The high-strength aluminum alloys EN AW-6082 and -7075 have a high specific strength and are therefore predestined lightweight materials. In the high-strength T6 state, however, they exhibit low cold formability combined with high springback. For this reason, temperature-supported process routes such as warm or hot forming are currently used to form these alloys. Cold forming of preconditioned semi-finished products in the W-Temper (W) or soft-annealed (O) condition offers an alternative. The upstream heat treatments lead to a significant expansion of formability, making conventional cold forming possible, which guarantees more robust process conditions. Afterwards, a subsequent heat treatment is required to obtain the high-strength T6 properties. In this paper, the opportunities, but also the challenges, of preconditioning are highlighted on the basis of material characterization and single-stage as well as multi-stage forming experiments. Special attention is paid to the relevant process variables and their influences including the subsequent heat treatment to exploit the lightweight potential.