My car no longer starts, the starter turns but does not engage the flywheel, it also made a godawful noise several days before the troulbe, i asume that was the starter staying engaged after the engine was running. Am i correct to assume that a new solinoid is all i need, what is the best way to get to the starter?? Thanks in Advanced!!

...i'm still in the middle of switching mine out. ( nice to have a beater back-up) Search the forum for your best assessment. If your familiar with JUST the solenoid, replace the entire starter and work on the solenoid at YOUR leisure. See my previous post and a link to Autohaus for a good deal. This is one of the first vehicles that i dont mind getting beemer juice ALL OVER ME !\\ DO IT !


to Terry Y : You Da Man !---i am not worthy....I am not worthy....

The shaft gets too much axial play in it and the starter stays engaged. Yes, it's a terrible noise. You could also have a solenoid problem if it's not just hanging but also not engaging.

As V12 said, it's really not worth it to just replace the solenoid -- if you have good tools and a lift, it'll still take you many hours to do this work, so it's nice to do it all in one go. It's a lot of work.