I'm not really understanding the problem. What's wrong with keeping the modules (and every single dep) in CVS (why not SVN?!) and do a local user-level install to a separate dir whenever you hit prod? That way, you're doing a clean install to a known place. Sounds like that should "Just Work".
My criteria for good software:
Does it work?
Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?