I don't remember needing to remove the intake manifold for the VCG's. I'd leave the VCG's on until after the CCV/hoses/etc and make those the last thing RR'd before putting it all back together. You'll have to climb on top of the engine to replace the 2 hoses under the oil separator.

WOW! I took a picture but it isn't sending to my email yet to post on here but...WOW! Just looked at the CCV on the back and while squeezing the hoses I noticed that the CCV was wobbly...looked a little deeper and saw that it was held on to the engine with a ZIP TIE! Like, a zip tie through the mounting hole on the CCV to the hole on the bracket attached to the engine. And the CCV is caked in oil. I'd like to slap the idiot who worked on this car before I got it. Now I won't be able to sleep thinking about what else this moron did to it to "fix" stuff. Did he/she use bubble gum to fix an exhaust leak? Am I gonna find duct tape around the rear CV Axle boots? Are the wires for the brake pad sensors gonna be cut and then wired back together with electrical tape? Sigh...

The ice cream cone shaped thing with the two hoses attached at top and one at bottom? That's the oil vapor separator. The CCV is the intake rear manifold/backing plate.
that is lame. so, is the bracket that holds the separator still there? like they just lost the two 10mm bolts that were holding it?

Confusion cleared up
 

Ah okay...that makes more sense. Someone earlier said the oil separator WAS the CCV. Anyway, yeah, the oil separator is held on by one zip tie. Also, after looking closer, overjoyed to find that I won't have to remove the intake manifold to do the VCG's. I had watched a youtube video previously that said you had to remove that, but maybe he was talking about the valley pan gasket.

If you decide not to do the valley pan and remove the intake manifold, make sure you have a new T30 torx bit/socket. Those lower torx bolts holding the backing plate on (actually all of those torx bolts) like to strip out fairly easy. Plus it's hard to get the socket perfectly straight inline with the bolts making it even more likely to strip out. I ended up needing to use a set of vice grips to get one loose after my used snap-on bit started to strip it out. But, once they are loosened they can all be unthreaded with your fingers. I replaced the lower bolts with 10mm hex bolts to save future headaches :)
Also, there is that one little vacuum hose that runs under the intake manifold and connects to the drain pipes under the oil separator. Make sure you replace that also and it's a little tricky routing the new one back into place. Make sure you have the stock part 11-15-7-560-068 as it has some extra reinforcement to make it last a little longer than a plain vacuum hose.

The following is the CCV system for a 4.4: RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.4i Crankcase-Ventilation/oil separator

The oil separator and the CCV are terms that tend to be used interchangeably. The CCV valve is attached to the oil separator depending on the design of the engine.