No doubt this point is well documented but here goes.

Although it would be nice to drill away at the lock cylinder core to gradually chip away and remove the bits - this without disturbing the black anti theft cover - the clever MB engineers made this very difficult if the front half of the cylinder is broken free from the bottom half. The front half would just spin with the bit unless somehow it is held in place for the bit to be able to grind away at the metal.

I will do more poring over mountains of info posted on this topic.

Thank you!