Developing A N54 Catch Can Solution, Part 3: Final Design and Features

Posted: April 23, 2015

Tags: turbo, teammishi, n55, n54, mishimoto, mishi, featured, directinjection, #e90, #bmw, #bimmer, #335i, #135i

Interested in picking up our N54 oil catch can system? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

BMW N54 Baffled Oil Catch Can Kit

After selecting a catch can location and fabricating a mounting bracket, we needed to fully install the can/bracket combo and begin putting together a set of CCV lines to complete our kit.

Catch Can Lid

Before doing so, the functional prototype of our catch can lid arrived for evaluation by our team. Check it out!

Mishimoto CNC-machined catch can lid

We added our internal baffle system as well as our 50-micron bronze filter. Here's a shot of the fully assembled can, ready for mock-up!

Mishimoto catch can assembled

Now that we had both a prototype lid and a fabricated mounting bracket, we could install these components together and set up our lines properly.

Mishimoto catch can mock-up

Hose Routing and Mock-Up

We are now at the point of putting together our molded hoses, which will make this kit a direct-fit, bolt-on upgrade.

The most difficult portion of this would be snaking the line around the rear of the engine compartment, so we started our lines there. Using silicone pieces, we cut and assembled our planned shape for the hoses coming off the intake and the valve cover port.

Mishimoto catch can line routing

One of our goals here was to avoid the need to trim or cut any portion of your engine cover. With some creative line routing we were able to achieve this. Once we made it around the rear of the engine, straight lengths could be used to finish off the lines.

Mishimoto catch can line routing

As with other oil catch can kits for the N54, we do require that the stock plastic connections be separated from the stock hose. This is rather simple with help from a heat gun or hair dryer to expand and loosen the fitting from the hose. This fitting can then be attached to the lines included with our kit.

Stock fitting separation

Below is a shot showing the inner diameter of the stock fitting (left) compared to the fittings sized for our E90-specific catch can lid (right). As noted earlier in this series, to accommodate our standard catch can we designed this new lid with the correctly sized fittings to avoid necking down the line size. This way we could prevent introducing a restriction into the system.

Stock fitting inner diameter (left) compared to Mishimoto catch can fittings (right)

Final Assembled Kit

Check out the shots below for our final design, fully installed!

Mishimoto baffled catch can kit installed

Project Conclusion

Our initial catch can offering is complete! The features are noted below.

E90-specific catch can with internal baffle and 50-micron filter for optimal separation
Direct-fit molded rubber lines requiring zero modification to your engine cover
Easily accessible can location for quick servicing
Complete bolt-on catch can solution
Lifetime Warranty

Feel free to follow up with any questions or comments!

Thanks

–John