Bought our 740GLE in '01 w/120K on it, a 1 owner AZ car. The B230F nonturbo is mated to a ZF22 automatic. Early on discovered an occasional "screech" on start up from the bendix not engaging fully. During an early timing belt change before getting the immobilizer from IPD I discovered a chipped tooth on the flywheel ring gear. Always started on the second try over the years. Now it's getting worse and must be dealt with. The motor stops at that broken tooth about twice a week and even letting the starter stop spinning it sometimes takes 4 tries. Anyone have experience with the starter ring gear? I have 2 local shops (1 a trans shop) looking but haven't found a parts source. Best source for what to replace? Might it be a flywheel/torque converter in one, or a separate flywheel that the converter bolts to with a replaceable ring gear? Yep, I realize it's a major R&R job. That's why I'm not doing it!

Thanks!