Something else to try is to run the IFC optimiser on a file before importing it.
Go to Utilities > Building Designer Utilities > IFC Optimization Utility, select the files you intend to import and see what effect it has on file size and subsequent import times.
Go to Utilities > Building Designer Utilities > IFC Optimization Utility, select the files you intend to import and see what effect it has on file size and subsequent import times.