Car grinds on crank occasionally

[JRHemmen]

Maybe I'm stupid and this is just a dying battery, but my e30 developed a weird issue this weekend.

Half the time when I turn the car over, it starts just fine. Now though, it'll crank for a second and then come to an immediate stop with a nasty grinding sound. If I turn the key again, nothing happens like the battery is dead. If I wait a few seconds, it'll turn over normally and start right up. The reason I don't think this is a dead battery is that when I wait and crank it again, it cranks at full speed, not like it's struggling to turn over.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

[D.Martijn]

I think it's your starter that's acting up? Maybe the solenoid that suddenly stops working.

[MrBurgundy]

Your starter is going bad.

[JRHemmen]

Your starter is going bad.

Everything I've seen about bad starters didn't include mention of the crank stopping. When it cranks successfully there's no grinding noise. I'll investigate anyway.

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[varg]

If the solenoid is going bad it may fail to pop the pinion out far enough to engage the ring gear and cause it to grind. Bench testing repeatedly would probably confirm this failure mode.

[E30SPDFRK]

Starter for sure