[clivehawkins]

Personally the second sounds wrong.

You can drop 'it' but then you can't use 'if'. Instead use a noun phrase or a verb phrase in the ing form
eg I'd appreciate your cooperation \ She'd appreciate a phone call
I'd appreciate having some cooperation \ We'd appreciate seeing you at the earliest opportunity

But then again that's just how it sounds to my ear. I agree with Mark, we need to see what Sue comes up with :-)