Brake air ducts - necessary?

[Stock323iSaloon]

Apologies in advance for bringing up this topic again but how necessary are brake air ducts? I read somewhere that negative effect is minimal, especially if you only use the car for normal use. what you guys think?

[adood84]

I don't know about UK but here in Saudi brakes need all the cooling the need to get to work well:D , I would think after alot of hard braking on motorways the effect of not having air ducts will show.

Why would you want to remove the air ducts anyway?

[alpina527]

This might sound strange, but I blocked off my brake ducts on my E39 528. I am very light on the brakes because I like to keep my wheels clean. I noticed no difference at all in braking performance with them blocked, but my wheels kept free from brake dust 3 times longer.

Now I do realise that the brakes would overcook on a track day or some very hard summer driving, but if you are a town driver, you aren't going to notice any brake fade, and you would certainly notice the improvement in brake dust deposits.

This will obviusly suit some and not others.

[Stock323iSaloon]

I am thinking of getting my bumper replaced, but if it doesn't affect braking much, I'd rather spend the 50 quid on something else. my plan is NOT to have any air duct at all. I was worried about dust/sand/rock etc. getting into the engine bay and damaging something...