I have to agree that .40 is extreme. I have found that the best zoom is between .70 and .85 depending on the aircraft. No, I can't see all the instruments but I don't think pilots can either or else they would have never invented heads up displays. It is the same situation in your car. I'm not a pilot but I have sat in the cockpit of a few aircraft and flown a full motion 717 sim. Those cockpits are a lot smaller than they look and the glare shield is pretty close to your face.
You may want to look at you seat position to get a better view. Pan to the right - your head should be roughly even to the position where you would expect the copilot's head to be. Set your seat position there.
Again, I know you will not be able to see all of the instruments but you are not supposed to see all of them. You have to keep your eyes moving around - scanning the instruments and scanning the view outside.
On take off and landing, I do zoom out a little so I can see the PFD, airspeed and altimeter.
EZDok makes these minor on-the-fly adjustments really easy so if you don't have it, you should invest in it. Trust me. I know where you are coming from but there is a better way. It just takes some time to get used to it.