Edit: this is an '02 M54 3.0l

So after finding a good amount of plastic in the oil pan, as well as seeing a piece above the crank gear, I decided to try pull the cover and try to replace some stuff. I've driven the two pins back, taken out all the bolts, even the ones in the head and oil pan, pulled the oil filter housing and removed the AC mounting bracket. I've been poking, prodding and prying for the better part of the afternoon with no luck in removing the cover from the block. My service manual recommended trying to separate the top of the cover from the head gasket with a sharp knife, that didn't seem to help and probably made things worse. I can get both sides of the cover about a half inch away from the block where it meets the oil pan, but the top center just wont budge. I've seen some people say that it's better/easier to just pull the head first, I'm not really eager to do that for fear of anything else that I might find wrong. But am I just at the point of doing a head job? Also how much of a PITA is an in-chassis head job on this? Looks like I should have plenty of room to get to everything. I should probably replace the two block mounted coolant lines as well if I have to do this. Thanks

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'02 3.0i money pit