I went for the MEP and I don't have an IR. Granted, I had to do it as I bought an old twin and had no choice!
I'm very new to ME flying, but it seems like doing it in Europe is almost prohibitively expensive with the fuel costs compared to the US. Maintenance is more and the insurance will have you over a barrell. The price of admission, i.e. buying it, is cheap - many times cheaper than a single, which can be seducing and fooling. The real costs can be terrifying and I've heard stories from owners that would make your b***s shrivel up to the size of raisins. But if you put your mind to it, you can contain it - throttle back, accept slightly more blemishes and find a type that has a lot of enthusiastic owners or a club behind it. Then I think it can be manageable. I'm lucky in that I have a mechanic that only deals with my type and there's a strong owners club that help source parts etc, so so far it hasn't been as terrifying as it could have been. Still, my first tune up cost $12,000 and in just a week she's due for her annual, which will be a good $4-5,000, no squawks. Easy.
Great thing about twins is that you do feel a lot safer over any unfriendly terrain. I'm surprised at how much calmer I feel over water as compared to singles. Just the short jump to Bembridge in the C152 used to make me sweat.
