170 BMR cold start issues!

[COT51E]

Surely i can't be the only one with this issue.

Love the car but hate the fact its starts like a bag of spanners first thing or left for a day or two. Put up with this for quite a while now.
I replaced the egr gasket for the mk2 leon type and must admit it has made a vast difference to its driving habit, no more stalled starts '16v' and quite easily drives in high gears at low revs but i'd love to know why it takes soooo long to start in a morning and once fired up runs lumpy as hell till you rev it. can't be right! I've just had a service and no change. Is it timing related, sensor related or just a common 'put up with it fault' Surely they can't have been like this when new or a couple of years old. Mines a 2006 on 132k now. Like i say i love the car just this niggle!