Wow that's a nice setup! Is the other hose at the distributor snaked under the manifold and then out to the catch can then?

yes I snaked the 5/8 hose from distributor under intake manifold up to catch can .(at first I didn`t think there was gonna be enough room, but there was a clear spot there to run the hose without interfering with any wires or hoses and took about a minute or so to feed it ,super easy). it came out close to the power steering reservoir. I did get the cheapo catch can but I think it looks good under the hood to me anyways. .
did you notice the hose connector going to vc I reused it and just cut off the 90 degree angle on it.

when I get a chance this week I will take a closer pic at where I installed the L shaped bracket to catch can. the L shaped bracket is about 1/8 thick. I got it from work what we use for seat cushions on wheel chairs.

Thanks for all the info I will be monitoring your posts closely from here on out to see how it does long term!

I have all the cold weather CCV parts on my workbench that I bought over winter because I wasn't sure my car would make it through winter once the temps hit 0 degrees and that high pitched whine it would make when cold until it was warmed up, including the cold weather dipstick guide tube which many forget about when using the cold weather CCV kit.

I'm going to use the stock parts for now but if I find that it starts failing a couple years from now and you still have good results I will not replace with a stock setup again and will use your setup as a guide to do a catch can on mine.

After the 1st CCV failed in -60°F temps, I still have the WHOLE winter CCV setup working OK since February 2008. So, here is a testimony that the new dipstick guide works. That's on a M54B30 engine.

Catch can or CCV is the question....

I am still holding off on the catch can idea. There 2 (maybe 3) points of interest in this whole setup that put brakes on this project:

1. Low tension piston rings. Apparently A properly functioning pressure control valve is designed to maintain a slight vacuum (approximately 10 - 15 mbar ) in the crankcase which assures reliable crankcase venting during all engine operating conditions (this s very important)
2. A properly functioning crankcase valve. A PCV valve might not pull the trick. The PCV valve will open at a preset pressure and stay open until the pressure drops. Meaning that it can allow higher than 10-15 mbar? One could replace the OEM CCV unit with a Mann-Hummel unit, which has basically the SAME specs as the OE BMW CCV. The Mann-Hummel unit comes in 2 different flavors and each flavor has different sizes meant for different engine displacements. The 1,000,000 $ question is: will this unit also freeze? (Same principle / different design).
3. You have to stick with the SAME (or sensibly close) inner ID of the plumbing (it will wreck havoc with the required engine vacuum). I am still thinking on ways how to approach the CCV issue, and every time I thought I found the answer, I came to screeching halt by unforeseen issues. Maybe this is why Gary has trouble launching his CCV. For consistent inner ID, I found the OEM clamps sold separately, which in turn can accommodate the correct hoses for plumbing. I purchased a set from this source from E-bay . Here are some pics:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...St5Eh/$_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...St5Eo/$_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...St5FN/$_57.JPG

those connectors from that ebay listing were NOT correct for my application ( N62 V8 ). The quick disconnect size was just slightly too small and just broke :(

might have been a bad run from the factory and that's why they are on ebay! never know

To help the CCV last longer, and also the engine, while using the OE CCV setup, here is what I do (we have really long & cold winters):

1. Once the temps drop below freezing have a cardboard placed in front of the radiator
2. After the car is started, turn the heating off, turn Test #7 on to see the KTMP. Drive until the KTMP reaches 85°C (or better, if you can hold on). KTMP will climb really fast with the heater core turned off. Once you have more than 85°C, you can turn on the cabin heat. You will see a 10°C sudden temp drop (or better), but the bulk of coolant reached higher temps, and it will warm up really fast
3. have the vehicle garaged at all times if you can help it during the cold months. I have a garage, and at work it's parked in an underground parkade, which helps a lot.

I'm on the same cold climate CCV (including re-designed dipstick guide) since February 2008. I will prolly need a new kit soon (preventative) - I don't think that rubber membrane of the CCV lasts forever. But only 2 or 3 years out of a CCV is too short.

Dorin THANK YOU for chiming in here, I know you know this engine very well, and I also suspected Gary @ GAS was stalling his project because of issues related to crankcase vaccuum as well. 2 very good tips for winter btw!

I will have to think about the cardboard in front of radiator or at least turning off the cabin heat until the coolant is warm, great idea (the latter I probably will do for sure). I also agree that if you are running on 6 years on the OEM cold weather CCV then that is good lifespan, my valve just might be original on my car so it is way overdue for replacement, but I think the key here is if you do the OEM CCV cold weather kit, don't forget the cold weather dipstick tube, as many do forget about it!

Dorin: Thanks for the tips, and for the vote of confidence in the OEM Cold Climate CCV kit. My X5 also has the updated kit, and so far, so good, with two winters under our belts. I have cheese under the 710 cap and sometimes on the dipstick when checking oil, so I need to address that, but am very thankful we haven't had the oil-sucking-into-the-intake problem. It's happened at least twice on our vehicle to previous owners.

I've been watching this thread and debating whether to dive into the mod or not; I would like to go with something like the remote mounted CCV kit that's been discussed, just so it can be easily cleaned out, and also would like to see about adding something that would remove water vapor from the crankcase, but knowing you've had success with the OE kit is encouraging.

I have used the cardboard trick in the past on other vehicles, but wasn't sure how the X5 would react to it. The other trick of keeping the heater off until the engine warms up is something I do, but it'll be a tough sell with my wife; her first move when climbing into a cold car is to crank up the heat, never mind the fact that it creates a wind-chill effect inside. :dunno:

The only "serviceable" CCV would be the Mann-Hummel one, which costs a tad more. The issue I have with it, are these 2:

1. Where would you mount it? if you mount it in the same spot the OEM CCV is located, it defeats it's purpose - you can't clean the filter element, because it's not accessible. To mount it somewhere else, you get into the intricacy of plumbing. What I mean by that, sure it's easy to place it somewhere around the left strut mount, but routing the vent hoses might be an issue if you will work down the road on an unrelated issue.
2. Looking at the valve, it seems like it's very similar to the OE one. If this is the case, they would last similarly time-wise. Here is a link, where they have a dissected view - you might need to scroll to find it.

Here is a pdf brochure of these filters. You need the Provent 150.

Having the mayo visible on the dipstick or on the oil cap is not good. When you see it one has 3 alternatives:

1. Once you reach operating temps, put the car in tiptronic, and downshift, driving close to 3000 rpm's for 10-15 mins (do 2-3 stints). This is if you don't have a highway close by, and you're stuck in city driving (you won't break the speed limit)
2. Warm her up, then do an oil change. This is if the above method has failed, due to a high mayo contamination of the CCV - the mayo "might" not come out, but it's an honest effort to chase it out with some fresh oil. Chance are 50/50 (my theory)
3. Do nothing and pray you will be OK (slim chances).

The quick warm-up method works best, combined with tiptronic downshifting and driving at higher rpm's. This can be during the work-home commute, no problem. And you don't have to do it every day.

0.02