I will get the ball rolling again. This is a very easy "catch" even from suburbia and in a 10x50 binoculars no less. I think I can see a hint of the dark lane in my 15x70's when mounted in a photo tripod. The lane is very easy even at low powers in my old 76mm f/9 newt and in my Orion 80ST. I get the best views of the galaxy at 62-75x from suburbia. Also use the same mags from dark sky sites when the views are just glorious. It really does resemble its nickname "the hamburger galaxy". I have seen hints of some internal structure in the dust lane in westsky's 10"f/5 dob. These stuctures were confirmed in Kevin's 16" dob.
See my sketches at:
http://www.geocities.com/dhumpie/dastro/5128.jpg
Darren