Brake disc shields?

[swindorski46]

One of the metal shields on the inside of my brake disc has come detached.

To stop it rattling about/ doing any damage I've just pulled it off.

I'm pretty sure I could live without it but do I need to replace it for MOTs and the like or is it just a 'nice to have'?

Thanks in advance!

[GTRMikie]

I have Minis with shields and without shields and they all pass the MoT. However I would remove the other one as well to even things up. You don't want to give the MoT man an excuse to queery why you only have a shield on one side!

[Cooperman]

I always remove them to aid brake cooling. They are completely unnecessary.

[fwdracer]

Second that - Benefit is on Streaming wet M-ways where they sheild the disk from spray. The only other benefit is keeping foreign objects out of the caliper to disk interface (avoiding scored disks), but in truth in all my Mini motoring I've never had any stones make there way in there.

[Cooperman]

I have had a stone get between a brake disc shield and the disc face. It was on a Merc 500SL and it didn't 'arf make a scraping noise. That'll teach me to take a 500SL down a rally forest special stage (to marshal, not compete!).