Mine was grumbly in my GS at 48k. I think they have to handle such a big range of engine speeds and work from idle to 7000 rpm plus that they get a bit grumpy.
At least on the QP / GTS you don’t have to take the exchaust manifold off!
Mine went as well. I'm not sure if it ever was replaced (100k miles on the car). I do know the last couple of months I have had several weekends of very spirited driving with a lot of stop and go driving and with a lot of high rpms. Now that I read your post i'm wondering if that might have killed my compressor. And i'm almost inclined to say that doing a lot of stop and go and very spirited driving with the aircon on might not be the best idea.
Definitely get the charge checked first, that could cause some issues. At least the price of the compressors seems to be coming down!
I looked at the pully and noticed it is not really rotating as it should be. And there is a pretty nasty rattle when the AC is on with engine running, coming from the AC compressor area. I'm pretty sure a recharge wont fix this.