I took another crack at the driver's side header this weekend, and after plenty of expletives, and some nearly frostbitten fingers... Success! I had to use a nut splitter on two of the nuts to get them free, but it all came out eventually.

It took some wrestling to get the manifold out once unbolted (there's less space on that side due to the steering linkage and ac piping). Be patient, and try turning the manifold so the open ports are facing up, then pull up and out towards the front of the car.

 

By the way, I now have a set of stock manifolds for sale:
https://mbworld.org/forums/engine-pe...ml#post5074305

 

FWIW: I don't think exhaust manifolds from your 55=5.5 litre will fit a 430=4.3 litre engine. I doubt the part numbers are the same but I could be wrong. Not talking apples to apples but the motor mounts for the w209 are interchangeable with the w208.

 

as for the w209, I think the manifold would line up with the heads, but maybe not the rest of the exhaust? I'm not sure...