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I was pretty surprised that they didn't test the hardware in that way even before flying it the first time. It looks like this issue is clearly reproducible on the ground with partial integration, not even the full spacecraft.

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Cost presumably. Those thrusters use hypergolic propellants which are corrosive so would need to replaced after every test. Now that's not to say they couldn't have done it - the LEM from the Apollo days also used hypergolics and they did test those on the ground.

I heard somewhere that lack of integration testing is one of the chronic problems facing the Starliner project.

And that, in turn, is arguably because after a couple decades' worth of outsourcing, Boeing itself is no longer integrated.

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