Confusing start up issues.

Hi guys.  I have a 1990 cabriolet 1.8 auto with a Pierburg e2e carb with auto choke. The problem is more of a nuisance, but it is really starting to annoy me. 
When the engine is started after a period of non use, ie first thing in the morning or after a day of work the revs slowly drop until they get to about 400, and the engine cuts out. I fire her up again and rev the engine, but when I put her into 'drive' and put my foot down - nothing - no revs, no movement. The car, then judders and dies. I repeat this process, each time the car being slightly more responsive and managing to move a bit along the road until she dies on me again. Then usually on the fourth or fifth attempt, I fire her up and she drives perfectly. 
Any ideas what this problem could be and how I can resolve it. 

Unfortunately the 2E2 is a well known pain in the a** model of carb. You really need to find someone with experience in setting these up, not your average mechanic who just seems to wind settings in or out. Other than that I'm quite sure a change of carb to a Weber would be more practical as it has a manual choke and get better mpg to boot.

have a read of the 2e2 guide, check everything from top to bottom.

weber is less practical than a working 2e2 as you have to faff with a knob, and if anythign mpg is less too. trouble is, fixing the 2e2 isnt so easy you have to put the effort in learning how they work

Sounds like you've got an issue with the waxstat which controls the idling whilst the autochoke's on. I learnt this thanks to rubjonny's brilliant thread about the 2e2 carb which helped me resolve my starting / running issues
Anyway, it sounds like you're trying to drive it the moment you fire it up, don't, let it tick over for a couple of minutes after you've started it and this should mean you don't get the stalling issue when you do set off especially as it sounds like yours is an auto.
As for the waxstat they're not the cheapest to replace with a new one so I'm going to try the yet to be proven 'tip' on rubjonny's thread regarding re-setting the wax in it on 25th! If it works I'll post a How to thread with pics etc that week hope this helps for now

Cheers for that, the problem is though that now it won't idle either. If you leave it stationary it just conks out. If you persevere and can get it half a mile down the road, it runs sweet as a nut with no issues. 

with the 2e2 its best to just check everything, as a faulty component might cause odd running where you wouldn't expect. the trouble is all the 2e2 carbs components work together so one thing going will have knock on effects on everything else.  have a look at the flange ounder the carb too, they like to split with age. best to buy genuine as most pattern ones fail very quickly! also make sure the front steady arm is fitted from airbox to rocker cover as that limits the amount the carb can move. if missing that will contribute to flange failure