yup^
i mean, its hard to tell with an internet description, but, the starter will spin, but it wont keep contact/the clutch in the starter doesnt want to push out
with me, it would usually not work after a few tries.. then if i drive to the store, buy a few things, getback to my car, it would start fine. seems like when it was cold, it did not want to start... then just went down hill after that...
you can always leave it at a mechanic for a while, have them listen to it, and if it is the starter, they should know without even testing it.
if you have any experience with swapping starters and have the means, to, you can take it out, drive down to an autoparts store, have them test it out, then see if its the starter if you wanted to.
i recommend just having a mechanic deal with this problem... its not worth doing yourself in my opinion unless if you have done this before... it sucks... PITA
a bentley manual will help you i bet (i didnt use one when i did it for the first time and it took forever)... even with a manual... its still going to be a PITA