What we've found after discussing the issue at great length with the facotry is the following methodology. When you already have some DWG data before beginning in Revit:
- Link in the DWG file using "Center-to-Center" option
- Use the "Acquire Coordinates" tool and pick the DWG link to align Revit's shared coordinates to the DWG's World coordinates.
- Other DWG's can now be linked using "By Shared Coordinates"
Think of how you would translate data in Autocad as compared to Revit. If you had a physical model (CAD data) on a sheet of paper (the coordinate system), in Autocad you would move the model around on the paper; whereas in Revit, you move the paper under the model.
By linking the DWG in first using origin to origin, your levels and standard elevation views will be way out in space.