Abstract: The invention is directed to a starter system for an internal combustion engine, comprising an electric starter; a starter battery for warming up or starting the combustion engine; a temperature measuring device for measuring the temperature of the starter battery; a power electronics module, which actively varies the magnitude of a discharge current drawn from the starter battery for the purpose of warming up or starting the engine; and a control device, feeding the power electronics module with the value of the discharge current to be varied, where, at low battery temperatures, the maximum discharge current is lower than at high temperatures. The invention is also directed to a method for starting an internal combustion engine.