Are they fucntional or just for esthetics? If functional, do they fold down/stay down or how do they work?

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I have one and they are functional. However, once you pull your bolt back the dust cover opens and stays open until you manually close it when the bolt is back in the closed position. There is a magnet on the inside of the cover that attaches it to the bolt. So if your rapid firing there is no sense in closing the cover on every shot but they do look pretty cool.

Take a look at the YouTube video in the classified section so you can get a better idea. If the video isn't there just go on YouTube and search for M&P 15-22 dust cover in action.

They are both functional and for the aesthetic. Functional in that the covers open and operate much like the real ones and aesthetic in that, while it might not stop everything from getting in, it IMHO greatly improves the gun's looks and adds a cool factor to it. However, the 15-22 wasn't designed to have one IE. there is no recessed groove cut around the ejection port for the cover door to sit in and completely block out debris like on a real AR. So as far as dragging it through the mud and not having your bolt swimming it crud, I can't say for sure. So I guess in that regard it's more for aesthetic purposes than practical. I hope this answers your question.

The video I took of me shooting the gun with the door closed was just to show people that you could fire the gun like that and the door would open properly and not cause problems, or go flying off the gun.

Yep, that answers my questions. Thanks!