No start, clicks

[audiophool]

Been a while since I've been here since the X5 3.0 has been running perfectly. I know, unicorn stuff, right?


But.


When we had a nasty cold snap it wouldn't start. When I turn the key it just would click repeatedly as long as the key was held in the crank position, accompanied by the dash lights blinking off and on. Sometimes letting it click away for a few seconds would then actually crank the engine at normal speed and away it would go. Sometimes boosting it would let it start, but today it just hit and cranked.



I'm reluctant to replace the starter on spec since it's a pain being under the intake. Anybody can confirm that a continuous 'click' when trying to start it is a bad starter? In my experience, a low battery would give a click followed by a slow or no crank. But this doesn't sound like the solenoid is pulling all the way in.