.... How the heck do you remove it? Youtube guides just show it being lifted out with ease but the lower clips on either end are just grimly hanging on! Had what was meant to be a nice straightforward job; remove headlamps to restore the lenses to some kind of clarity, but have failed at the 1st hurdle. Are the facelift grill clips different to the pre-fl ones. If this is the only way to remove headlamps, say, to change a blown bulb,  then what a 'mare of a job! Was bad enough on my daughter's' 05 Modus, there I had to remove the front bumper first. 

OK, after the above rant,  have finally achieved in removing the front grill, but it ain't as easy as 'just lift it off'. The 2 lower end clips are strangely not like anything I've seen before, and go off at 90° to the grill and I had to bend 'em straight in order to release the retaining claw...... weird! If any of you, dear readers, ever have to change a bulb in the hl cluster on a mk6 5, then be afraid, be very afraid. 

 

Not sure what year a 6.5 is, but on my '57 fiesta bought seven years ago, I had similar trouble as it had been refitted incorrectly.  I warmed up the claw with a hot air gun, and they restored to the original shape all on their own !

Might be worth trying, using the daughter's hair dryer !

2005 was the crossover year into facelift.  The PFL grills are different but do still use the same right angled clips.  I can't remember having any trouble with them, it sounds like yours may have been poorly refitted in the past, as with Paul's.

Thanks for your comments!

My grill has got the chrome surround, if that makes any difference. Looking carefully at several YouTube guides, on all but one the grill simply lifts off, the lower tabs all being the same shape; only on one did it have the same lower end tabs as on mine, and to remove the grill he lifted it slightly then cranked it forward, presumably that enabled  releasing of the end tabs. I'll post up a pic the offending item (later on today)