i got the glow plugs changed. i have to say, this was one of the most time consuming jobs i have done on the car so far. also, my hands are now all scraped up and sliced up from all the weird angles and from brushing against who knows what while changing the plugs. i guess the job might have been easier had i removed all the injector lines, but i really did not want to open that potential can of worms.
regardless of the cramped spaces, the job itself was pretty straightforward. the old plugs came out easily, and the reamer worked quite well. there were a couple holes where i had to ream the hole before i could even get the reamer to start threading, but that was not a big deal. i reamed each hole two times, just to make sure a good portion of the build up was removed. the second time through, the reamer (with a thin layer of grease on it) came out clean.
the new (Bosch, France) plugs went in well.
i have been surprised at the incredible difference in plug warm up time. with the old plugs it would sometimes take up to 30 seconds for the plug light to go out. i have started the car about 5 times since i changed the plugs, and i think the longest time so far has been about 8 seconds. very happy with the results.
i will loan out the reamer to those interested, and i will get my information posted in the tool loan/rental thread soon.