I never noticed the frequent save - respawn issues. I think that's mostly people's imaginations.
Spending 10 minutes rolling decent stats and distributing them properly would have saved you more time by now.
Remember, in AD&D (The system that BG uses) most of the time, a 15 in a stat is as bad as a 9 or 10. Only go for 18's in the important ones. Just decrease the others to the minimum, you won't have any disadvantages. (Really, an STR, DEX, CON 18 Fighter with 3 INT, WIS and CHA will be just as fine as one with 18 in INT, WIS, CHA.) One minor issue: a high CHA will give you cheaper prices, but Imoen has 17 CHA, just put her in the lead when you purchase things.