I'm not sure why the Mass Air flow sensor would detect a drop in pressue, should just pull more from the air box.

But we should be able to allow the EGR to just draw regular air, through a small filter. It would be simple enough to block off the supply pipe coming out of the the manifold.

This would be much less work to fabricate then R&R of the manifold and other parts.

I'm sure you have seen the Epsilon part on the TDI fourm. I had a 02 TDI GLS. We TDI owners have all seen the manifold photos.