Yep, this is a serious problem not yet resolved by Graphisoft. ArchiCAD exports to 3ds so well but importing is always a pain.
ArchiCAD can't handle binary 3ds files without making insane huge files, what a shame.
The new features of AC 10 are nice, but it would be good if AC could at least do BASIC tasks like 3ds management. This is particular important since the 3D world don't speak GDL.
This is in my opinion the biggest AC's weakness.
AC26 > AC5 - Win10