My previous truck was a 2004 Ford Ranger. Replacing the headlights on that only required lifting a tab right behind the front top brace and the entire unit dropped out with all bulbs accessible. I "tried" to update my 2014 Express headlights (high beams and fogs) to HID which required everything described in the original post. The new headlights were great when they worked but after the second bulb burn out, I got tired of screwing with them, yanked the whole mess out and installed the best halogens I could find (Sylvania Silverstar zXe) and, while not as good as the HID, they are better than stock and totally reliable.
Bottom line of all of this is that I ended up changing out headlights several times and (unfortunately) got really good at it. I could undo the bolts, pull the grill and pop the headlight units out in 5 to 10 minutes. It just means that, like most repairs, if you do it more than a few times, it is easy and quick. If you're like most DIY guys, you only do a job once and, since every time is the "first time", it seems like a PITA. Had the same experience with a radio upgrade that had problems (turned out to be a bad Sirius antenna). I can pop the radio out in 2 minutes since I did it about 7 or 8 times.
Just my 2 cents as well.