Inspector extremely slow, sluggish (especially animation import options)

I asked on Unity Answers too, but I figured maybe someone here has also experienced this problem.

I'm working with a complex 3D assembly which originally was a CAD model (imported as an FBX file). It has hundreds of separate 3D objects and most of them are animated. It had been decimated and textured for realtime use, and I'm programming a system/game around it.

My problem is that entering data or changing data in the inspector is extremely slow, to the point that it is almost unusable. It even affects entering data on scripts attached to empty gameobjects (although those scripts do reference the complex 3d asset). For example, if I were to try to type data into a public string in the inspector, it can take 3 seconds between characters before they appear. So, if I type a sentence, I then have to sit there for minutes watching each character slowly appear long after I've finished typing.

It's the worst in the Animation section of the FBX import settings when trying to set up new clips and frame ranges. Just selecting a field to edit like say the start frame takes 10-20 seconds, before it even allows me to type in the integer, then it is 5+ seconds between each character I enter. After I am finished and hit the apply button at the bottom to save the very simple changes, it can take multiple full minutes to apply. I usually leave my computer and make coffee or something while waiting to just save a single new simple clip.

This is killing me. Any ideas? I'm running a Core i5 6600k, 32GB DDR4 RAM, and a GTX 1070 with Unity 2017.1 Pro 64bit.

Edit: Here is profiler outside of play mode, https://i.imgur.com/FDSQVs0.jpg