Mud Guards

I think that the mud gaurds look horrendous on the car and have been thinking about removing them. They don't really prevent anything from getting on the side of the car and have carved a groove into the side skirt. I never removed them because I read a post, which I can't find now, that said something to the effect of the mud guards would need to be replaced with an insert that costs around $30, so a few days ago I ran the power cable for my amp through the left front fender. While doing this, I had to remove the mud gaurd to retrieve a "plastic thingy" that fell into that area. I noticed that the inner fender lining runs all the way down to the side skirt. At this point I was ecstatic, I could finally remove those stupid ass mud gaurds, and so I did. Then I went to one of the rear wheels, removed the mud gaurd and noticed that the fender lining didn't run all the way down to the rear bumper skirt. Can I remove the mud gaurds without any adverse effects? Are the inserts only for the rear fender wells? I don't remember if the post refered to up untill 04 models or 05-06's too. Does anyone know where the original thread is?(I couldn't find anything) What do you all think?

Only on the new body styles this applies. I work for acura, and when i install mudguards i leave the plastic cover on. I don't understand why some technicians remove it, it doesn't get in the way of the mudguard. But if you want, i may be able to scrounge some up and ship them to you if you pay shipping.