Excel will not autofill horizontally (using an absolute reference for a column on a dif sheet)

It might be the $ in front of the E.  I know you described it as an absolute reference, so that means that no matter what column you're in as you drag or extend, you want the reference to be to column E.  I may be missing something, but you might try removing the $ so that it isn't an absolute reference but a relative one and see if that solves the problem.