I am trying to import a drawing that is at 1:500 scale. It is about 8" long on an 11x17" sheet:

I can't figure out how to configure the DWG import so that I get the same size on the default AI artboard.

1/500 or .002 gives me something that's 2" long on the artboard:

The DWG being imported is in Metric units, while the artboard is in SI.