Part of me thinks if I count spaces between rollers, starting at the orange one on the left, and moving over, the 16th space would be one over from the orange marked one on the right. So perhaps I need to add one more link between the cams.

*sigh*

 

Does this help?

http://www.passatworld.com/forums/6....com/forums/68-b5-garage/341985-please-double-check-my-v6-cam-chain-timing.html

 

If your timing marks are dead on and all the other timing marks line up then u should be ok. I'm having the same issue mine is off a tooth

 

From the looks of your picture you've got it correct. Your cam marks line up perfectly. I had a known good head to use to compare everything to when I had mine apart.

 

Put some oil on those chains and guides before you start the motor, looks like everything could use a little bit...

 

The pic in the opening post looks like 16 rollers and is correct for bank 2.

NOTE:
Haynes incorrectly says and shows "16 rollers between timing marks"
After some research, I have discovered that some of this wiki.ross-tech info is also incorrect,
the V6 Bank 1 timing is the same as the 1.8; NOT as shown in the diagram.
See the images at the bottom of this page: 16730/P0346 - Ross-Tech Wiki


Bank 1 is different!
One timing mark lines up between teeth, the other on a tooth. See pic.

1.8 and V6 BANK 1.

Is the chain very tight ?
It must line up on the timing marks with the correct 16 roller count.

If the cam bearings were not well lubricated during assembly, they will need to be dismantled,
lubricated and reassembled before running the engine.

 

I really appreciate the replies I got. After doing the passenger side (bank 1), I came back to this side (bank 2) and decided that I did want to add one link inside. As you all mentioned, the timing marks were spot on, though! As you can see in the new photo, you can still have the timing marks spot on with more chain added. This looks to me like 16 rollers the way I'd want to count it.

As TomVW said, the CCT on this side (bank 2) is quite high, which means that what he thinks and I what I think match. Barring someone confidently pointing out that this is wholly incorrect, I think I am going to install it like this, put the timing belt on, and give it a few hand rotations to see how the marks on the two sides leave, shift, and return to their indexes.

P.S., I realize I need more oil on the cam chains. I kept these dry for installation and counting purposes, they'll be well oiled upon install. I gave a reasonable coating of oil to the cam shaft caps during install.

 

That looks like 17 rollers for bank 2!