I am trying to take the instrument panel out on my 2001 Octavia TDi, had to fight to get the surround off, and then rmoved the two upper screws, and it swung down, does it unclip from the lower hinges? it seems very tight, did not want to break them by forcing them. How do the wiring plugs come out, do the have a locking clip as pulled on them and they dont seem to budge. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There are levers on the wiring loom clips that need to be pulled up, you can start them off with a small flat blade screw driver. The panel is hinged on the lower edges by plastic lugs with a rubber sleeve on them and should just pull out of its plastic clips.