'01 4.4 M62 misfire

[Toeks]

Frustration, a word we all know I'm starting to learn. Bought the X5 used and here's the story...
Since having her the gear changes would go into "sport" mode 10 to 20 minutes after start. The moment operating temp is reached she would only change gear at 3500 to 4000 rpm instead of normally. Also there is a misfire when you push the accelerator down from idle. Smooth pushing of the pedal gives less "bogging down" and at high rpms the misfire is almost gone. Saw the MAF was unplugged, plugged it in and the problem is worse (struggles to start, misfire, etc.) Got new MAF and put in new spark plugs. Still the same. Had diag done at local dealer, showed VANOS bank 1 & 2 problems, Lean mixture too. Took her to local indy, he opened Vanos and said he found a "bent plate" which he straightened, but errors were still there. Then suggested we replace Vanos solenoid valves, so I did. Got GT1 meanwhile so after changing the valves I diagnosed her myself. Vanos bank 1 error is gone, but 2 still showed, as well as some Map Thermostat error. So I opened the Cylinder covers to have a look. Couldn't find anything seemingly wrong on bank 1, bank 2's pulse wheel generator had 1 bent piece. So I straightened that. There was also a LOT of oil in the spark plug recesses, so drained that and replaced the gasket seals under the cylinder covers. Also replaced the OSV and found the oil return pipe was hanging loose on the old OSV. So I maneuvered it onto the oil return that goes to the bottom sump. Put everything back together and started her up. Still the same. I haven't done a diag again but had another look at the vacuum pipes (it seems to be a common thing on the forums) and saw that the oil return pipe from underneath the intake manifold to the OSV was missing. So I took off the intake manifold and this is where I am now....(maybe worth mentioning, when I released the fuel line going to the fuel rail some fuel trickled out and it seemed not to be under pressure at all, I'm thinking it should be under pressure right?)...(see attached pics for oil in sparkplugs, intake manifold etc.) Any ideas guys? By the way at no stage did I get SES, CEL or TRANS lights or warnings.