I'll bet the dealership knows how to drill out that glow plug without removing the head. I know that they have special tools to do the job, and any diesel mechanic should have drilled out many stuck glow plugs.

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'97 E 300 D

Things are progressing nicely at the dealership. They gave a me a free loaner, and took me in the back yesterday to show me the insides of my E300's engine. The Mercedes mechanic said the engine is in surprisingly good condition for a 200k miler, and he doesn't think that anything extra will need to be done besides cleaning the head/intake manifold and all the new gaskets/bolts to put the head back on. All in all, it will cost me about $4k to have the job done, but at least it is done right and I get my diesel back. Lesson learned here: Have patience when you remove glow plugs, and if you're worried at all let the professionals do it.

Anyone want to take a guess at the end cost??

To have the head removed, glow plug removed, a new exhaust manifold (old was cracked), and all the new installation parts + 17 hours of labor it was $4800 . Not exactly what I wanted when I first took to putting in new glowplugs by myself, but the dealership did break the engine fan/radiator so I got new ones for free!

I'm just happy to have my E300 back, and thanks to everyone for all the comments/assistance throughout.