Next - Take off the upper and lower timing covers and redo everything. This way you can make sure you don't have a problem caused by the prior poor mechanic and you can eliminate incorrect timing. The Vanos condition concerns me. Were they rebuilt? I suppose gouges don't really matter if the rest of the unit is sound. One way to test if they were rebuilt with Beisian seals is to see if the plastic seal is all the way at the lip and does not move (read his rebuild page) and you will understand. You can also take them apart per Beisian instructions. Again, since the workmanship you see is so bad, I would not want to try to fix things near the end of the process when the front could be just as bad or worse. Building on sand has a huge risk.
You can test the solenoids to see if they click with 12V, but from what you describe they may be crushed internally. Try to find a picture of one that has been cut open on the web to see what kind of exterior beating they can endure and still function.
