And it's still located in the same position? I'll look up the part numbers at work later and have a look, this is an interesting solution if it is indeed a better fix than replacing with the same parts as original.

Maybe look at buying the bmw used as a sort of long term payment plan. IE. I bought my 2004 loaded X5 (its a manual) a couple months ago with 75k miles on it for 11k. I don't know exactly what this car was new but I would think with the packages it had it would have been close to 60k out the door. So that is a hell of a depreciation over 9 years compared to other cars. The reason they depreciate like they do is that a 9 year old bmw no longer has the image those with money to buy new want yet it will cost more to maintain as it ages than it did first leaving the dealer. They key is that if I do all or most the work myself I have a high end vehicle for a pretty reasonable price it is just that I am going to be making payments in the form of parts and maintenance for the duration of my ownership. BMW is great in this regard because they are some of the easiest vehicles to work on IMO so as long as you go into it with the right mindset your getting a hell of a deal.

Go drive and MDX and tell me if you disagree. The MDX will hold its value better and will cost less to maintain (it is probably also pretty easy to diy) but it is going to drive like a shit compared to your X. Unfortunately you just can't have your cake and eat it to and if you could that cake would be lot pricier.

So are these parts is compatible with 03 4.4i? I'm trying to compiling the part list for the Spring 2014 maintenance.

I realized as well that the parts listed are for M62. Just so we're on the same page, N62, M62, and M54 all use different CCV systems.

Interesting

So, to clarify, do these parts fit the 4.6IS?

If so do they differ from standard and how do they stop the CCV from freezing? I have looked but it isnt immediately obvious

It doesn't stop the CCV from freezing, it just give some more time to build up the water/oil mix in the new CCV.

Does anyone know if the newer 4.8 has an external CCV that suffers the same issues as the 4.6?

I see - basically a time bomb with a longer fuse......

PM sent

fun fun
 

Oil blowing out the motor its ten outside ,time to replace all that stuff that is to frigin hard to get at. I have a 2001 e53 with 224000 miles never touched the cvcc on it yet , did timing guides and tensioners two years ago everybody wants a new car I say NO !! with no oil in it it still runs good ! ,to poster just replace with all the parts that have to do with the cvcc system.