There must be a trick in popping those annoying tabs to remove the grill I can't even begin to get my hands in there. I can get at the top tabs but they seem flimsy like I am going to break them. Any help is appreciated.

 

Short pair of plyers.
Also, remove the two 10mm bolts that holds the bumber by the head lamps. You'll have more room to stick your hands in there.

 

Remove 10mm bolts (2), andwork at the sides first and attack the bottom
clips from under the car avoiding damaging the A/C condenser using a helper.
Small screwdriver placed properly pops them right out

 

I used 2 screwdrivers to do it the other night. One screwdriver sorta wedged into the slot where the tab goes thru and the other one to pull the tab thru. Definitely takes some finesse.

 

When I did mine I went ahead and removed the whole front bumper cover/fascia (I was replacing the lower grille too at the time), and was glad I did - it saved much frustration with those tabs.. removing it isn't too bad, remove inner fenderwells, two screws in each wheelwell, those two bolts on top, and a few underneath. With it off, I was able to undo the tabs without any marring.

 

Yea I went through and just popped it off with a screw driver, but this was with the bumper cover off.

 

yeah, the tabs can be a pain, but with a scewdriver and some pliers, should be a piece of cake