I thought it may help future readers if I partly documented the process I went though, and the costs.
Process
1. disconnect battery.
2. remove air filter and duct, taking care of the sensors
3. from the top, remove the retaining clamp from the DPF.
4. from the top, remove the DPF retaining bolt from midway down on the left
5. from the top, remove the bolts from the top of the gas recirculation pipe. It's difficult to get into, but I got there from just behind and to the right of the oil cap. via the channel left from the air duct. If you've not got small hands, you might benefit from removing the duct below (to the intercooler I think).
6. Lift the car
7. remove the retaining bolts for the exhaust on the cross-member. remove the sensor.
8. remove the retaining nuts on the DPF support. Move the DPF to the right.
9. remove the rubber coolant hoses. There are two - the one on the right is behind the DPF and most easily accessed from the RH wheel well. having a caliper clamp is really useful as there is not a lot of space to get mole grips on. I lost virtually no fluid from the bottom left hose, and a litre from the top right. I clamped both once released.
10. remove the bolts to the gas recirculation hoses. there will be three sets of two remaining (the first being removed from the top). One set, from memory, are nuts. the others all being torx bolts. I attacked these mainly from behind the cross-member, armed with loads of thin extension bars and a wobble joint. having a second pair of hands to get on to the bolt head is really helpful.
11. remove the sensor to the EGR
12. remove the oil pipes. (there is a channel bolt on the bottom of each). I didn't lose more than a few drops of oil. The bottom right pipe takes a big spanner. 23mm from memory. I didn't have a socket or spanner for this, so a plumber's adjustable spanner. just got the jaws open wide enough. NB there were copper washers to keep hold of.
13. unbolt the EGR. It was easier to get in close to the EGR from the left wheel hub. the top right bolts needed a flexible joint.
14. the EGR can now be slid out to the left and removed.
pretty much reverse the above to replace. Some hints include
A. leaving significant slack in every bolt until all related bolts are seated. I lost 90 minutes trying to get the top right bolt of the EGR back in as you have to align it blind. slackening all the bolts worked first time.
B. don't tighten the DPF retaining bolts until it is reseated into the turbo. Lost about 25 minutes trying to get this seated neatly enough to apply the clamp.
I think if I had to do this again, I'd count on six hours. First time round it took from 09h15 to 13h00 and then 14h30 thru 19h15 on a Saturday.
In terms of cost
the EGR was 171 eur
gaskets were 12eur for the four (for the gas pipes)
DPF gasket was 2eur
DPF clamp was 9eur
oil gasket was 2.50.
all in, including shipping, 198eur.
I paid 130eur for the lift, garage space and access to tools for the day. the most useful tool I borrowed was the hose clip removal tool. my grips didn't get on one clamp at all. here's a
link to something very similar.
Lastly a young cousin helped me as a second pair of hands and less bulk to get into the tighter spaces. He got 100eur.
All in roughly Eur425. Due to covid, I wasn't able to go to garages to get quotes, any the car owner was at work so couldn't do it. I've not idea whether I came in under what it would have cost commercially but I suspect so.
In the hopes that the above is helpful to someone. Sorry there are no photos. All the above from memory so apologies for minor inaccuracies too!