Replacing Reflectors

[NJTurnPikeX5]

Greetings, first post although i have visited this forum very often over the years.

I have spent the entire morning in the hot sun here in Africa trying to replace the OEM front reflectors on a 2011 5.0 and ultimately had to throw in the towel. I have researched this topic extensively on various forums and have so far tried the suggestions that are feasible (short of having my fingers amputated) with zero luck.

Given where the radiator is located on this model, it appears the only way to access the reflectors is from the wheel well which requires removing 3 8mm screws on the plastic cover on each side. Prying the OEM reflector however has been mission impossible as it appears that the adhesive used is EXTRA strong and it doesn't help that room to work with via this approach is very tight. So tight that I couldn't access the reflector (from the inside) with a reasonable sized hair dryer as suggested on other posting. I was worried about applying heat from the outside i.e. directly onto the painted area around the reflector.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am not too crazy about having a bodyshop here take the car apart so my fall back would be to spray the OEMs to my desired Sapphire Black color and return the replacement to IND. Thanks in advance.