Greg, prior to buying my 240d, I looked at another 240d that had glow system problems & had been butchered big time by the PO.

Your suggest is exactly what I was going to do if I bought the car. ( but the deal fell through) Get a Ford starter solenoid relay - hook it up to the glow plugs & have a little push button on the dash that I would hold for 15-20 seconds.

As far as I'm concerned, the simpler the better!!

Aivars