Yikes -- we're in the midst of installing one at this very moment! (The fully integrated version of the Diamante.)

I am very surprised. My understanding is that the Miele's use basically the same chassis and motors etc on all their models -- just different programs and insulation from one model to the next. So if Consumer's Reports says the Diamante doesn't wash well they're effectively saying Miele doesn't wash well. From everything I've read here, Miele is one of the best.

I'm eager to read what Antss and others might have to say about this.

We have an Optima (one up from the Diamante?) and it cleans beautifully.

Mieles are great if you can deal with the racking system.

Consumer Reports is a nice resource, but they are not a benchmark for luxury brands nor are they even accurate many times. DO not take all they say as gospel.

Much has to do with their sample size which is very small with pricey appliances.

I have been using my new Diamante for about 4 weeks now, and I have been very pleased with how well it cleans. After Christmas dinner, we loaded it full without rinsing anything, we just scraped or wiped off food into the trash or disposal. Other thana few bits of dried something or ther on a couple of dishes (that were easily flipped off with a fingernail), the dishes and glasses were very clean, and for the most part, completely dry. I've had to spot clean a few items such as a pot or pan that I added to a normal load on a normal cycle, but I am very happy so far.

I've had mine since September. It's performed flawlessly. I pretty much only use Normal cycle. I never rinse anything. Kids dump things into the compost and don't do a great jobs scraping anything.

I use Trader Joes powder.

The tech support guys at Miele USA are using a Diamante as a tester in their office trying everything to stress it. Nothing so far. A call to them should reassure you.

Rating this dishwasher poorly is ridiculous - I have this exact model and absolutely love it. Look up the water hardness in your area, program the water softener to accommodate as the manual instructs, and I think you'll be delighted. I'm in a hard water area and the performance (as well as the lack of noise) blows away the GE I used to have. No comparison at all.

Personally, I think the racks are brilliant. It's surprising how much you can stuff into this thing when you need to.

OMG!! I honestly can not believe that. There is currently (IMHO)no dishwasher to compare to a Miele. I have never had a lot of faith in CR, but now it ranks around the same as the National Enquirer in my books.

They rate Honda's high, and I can tell you I was less than blown away with my CR-V.

They rate the Acura TL as one of the best cars in America. And I've never owned a car that was so frustrating or such a pain in the ass at this TL.

Here is a video of CR dishwasher testing. For some reason the Miele did not do so well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer reports dishwasher testing

Optima G2472:

Dishwasher was poor in overall performance
� Poor wash performance
� Very good energy efficiency
� Good for noise
� Cycle time is 125 minutes.
� This model uses about 5 gallons of water
� Requires periodic cleaning of filter
� Poor drying performance

I've had a La Perla for about 7-8 months and it's the best dishwasher I've ever used. The racks require some new thinking but perform amazingly. The cutlery "all or nothing" clean gamble is gone. We entertain a lot and I've used every cycle at this point. For me, the level of clean was dramatic compared to the KA that was in the house before we bought it.

Consumer Reports is iffy for brands considered high-end. I can assure you scores aren't based on raw test data alone; there is subjectivity to final scores. Seems to be also based on some definition of value.

If the Miele Optima above, which I own, got a low rating something is wrong with the calculation of their test results.

CR makes me nuts this way. They do not disclose water quality. They say they use the "recommended" amount of detergent but don't disclose source of that recommendation or the actual amount used. They don't record temperatures of the cycles chosen for the test. Basically they don't tell you anything about the most important components of the machines' actual functioning.

Of the items listed by dixiedarlin1 the only negative that I would have any faith in would be "poor drying performance" which stands some chance of being objective.

Over the last four decades, I've used expensive DW's and old/cheap DW's. Given proper detergent dosage for the load and water quality, they ALL clean just fine. I've also read for years in this forum about all the problems people blame on their machines -- many/most of which aren't the machine's fault at all.

I have little doubt your Diamante will please you. However, it is expensive and you'll be living with it for a long time. If you're not comfortable, get something else. Whatever else you get will work fine, too.

I have used a number of inexpensive dishwashers in apartments and homes over the last 30 years. Having had cheap ones before and an expensive one now, I disagree that the cheap ones work as well as the expensive ones--or at least as well as the Miele I have now. Maybe it depends on your definition of "works fine". The Maytags I've had in my home were hit or miss on cleaning--though better than the really cheap apartment dishwashers I had. I had a Maytag Portable for 13 years in my home, and I thought it worked fine--if you rinsed everything and made sure that the silverware was reasonably clean going in. Having had nothing but cheap apartment dishwashers previously, I thought that this was just what you did with a dishwasher. When it finally died, I got another Maytag portable, and it worked just OK for about 5 years. Cleaning was hit and miss, even with pre-rinsing. It was LOUD.

Then we remodeled the kitchen and installed a Miele Inspira, their bottom of the line model. I am blown away by how much cleaner everything gets, with just a quick scrape, no rinsing or fussing. There is NO comparison to my older, cheaper machines. I had no idea that a dishwasher could get some of the stuff I put in clean. LOL, I had fun the first few weeks putting really gunky stuff in, just to see what it would do on the different settings. I love the top silverware rack--everything gets clean, every time, even cheesy lasagna forks and serving utensils. The filter isn't a pain to clean at all, a quick rinse in hot water once in awhile does the job. We have a whole house water softener, this model does not have a salt dispenser. I like the racking system, it's not flimsy like the really inexpensive machines. I love the configurability--tines can be put up/down or removed altogether to make room for large items. I find myself putting things in this washer that I used to do by hand, knowing that they wouldn't get clean in the old washers. They do in this dishwasher! I add my voice to the "Miele Dishwashers are Awesome" chorus, LOL.

I hope this helps ease your mind about your order. If you're really worried, you could always cancel and get something else--but I bet you'll like it once it's installed. If not, Miele will take it back within 90 days, so your bases are covered.

Cj

Certainly, if they offer 90 days take-back warranty, your worries are over. That's a fine policy.

I recently replaced a mid-level Whirlpool with an upper-level Whirlpool under their own 30-day policy. (The issue was noise, not cleaning) I figure if you're going to be living with the machine every day for a decade or more, you must be satisfied.

The only time I've had even old/cheap machines fail to clean is when they failed to heat the water to specification range. That's usually caused by heater-relay failure. When the machines operated as they should and I dosed with detergent properly, I always got excellent cleaning. On those occasions when the heater failed, cleaning became terrible. Wondering if that may have been cause of cj47's bad experience but, of course, I don't know.

Thank-you all for your responses. It is very reassuring to hear from people who are actually using one of these dishwashers and who are happy with its performance. I am feeling much more comfortable with my choice, and I will stay the course. However, this really makes me question CR's test methods and results -- for other items as well.

I use to get the CR magazine for a few years, but canceled my subscription about 7 years ago as all the products they rated as Very Good had the worst reviews by real people & users. I trust real people who use a product every day than a paid magazine. One reason Miele and other "high end" products are rated poorly by CR is because of their price. They'd rather give a good award to a $500-700 dishwasher that cleans OK since anyone can afford to buy it, not a $1500 dishwasher that a lot of people never heard of.

But I have owned the Miele Diamante Plus G2143SC since last May and have had 0 problems with it. I use the Miele brand salt (water softener), rinse aid, and tabs (half) with it and everything always comes out perfectly clean. In the beginning I did try the Cascade Complete packs and Cascade rinse aid, and noticed a chemical smell on everything (but was clean). After I changed to the Miele tabs and rinse aid, I never had that chemical smell again.

At this point I would say to have the unit installed, use the other Miele dishwasher products with it, and see what type of results you get.

Asolo--you could be right, but I wouldn't term the cleaning "terrible", just not anywhere near as good as with the Miele now. There was always something that didn't quite get clean and had to be handwashed afterwards. In the Miele, I use about a TBS of Cascade Extra Action (Sam's Club, huge box, inexpensive) and some rinse aid. My dishes are spotless--all of them, every time. Can't ask for better than that, I guess. If you are happy with the Whirlpools, then that is terrific. As you stated, and rightly so--when you use something as often as the dishwasher, you really should be happy with it. I didn't realize that Whirlpool had a return policy as well. That's good info to have.

Cj

We've been running our Diamante since September and it replaced a 2001-era Bosch (made in Germany) and my wife swears that the Diamante cleans better than the Bosch ever did. Of course, we use the proper detergent, Miele softener salts, and RinseAid. Don't know if CR did that as well.

Watched the video linked above to Consumer Reports and it oozes short-sightedness. The video failed to make 3 distinctions, if not more, from the information they were spouting off. "Stainless Steel doesn't help with cleaning" Tell that to the FDA video girl. SS also helps drying and last time I check steel was more durable than plastic.

Video gal also points out the filter/self cleaning filter option but made no mention of how this affects energy consumption, noise, and durability. Which leads me to my main vent. How can someone talk about wash duration without making any reference to why, especially after talking about the filter and such.

CR perpetuates mediocrity and convinces the consumer that free enterprise decreases costs and doesn't have anything to do with innovation to make products better.

The other thing "poor drying performance". Well, that's on plastics...

but yeeah.. but I can put the plastics on the bottom rack and then don't get destroyed! Try that with a DW with a bottom heating element!

Just pop the door open for bit, then unload. Things are plenty dry enough after that. Or leave them on a towel for a few minutes while you put the rest away. Or if you are a grown up, just step away from the plastic! (Try the Anchor True Seal instead of tupperware, which you should not be MW'ing anyway!).

"we use the proper detergent, Miele softener salts, and RinseAid. Don't know if CR did that as well."

Of course not !

Is anyone irritated by the racking system in the Miele? I'm trying to decide between the Asko and Miele, looking inside the Miele I wasn't sure I could deal with the racking system. The Asko had a more traditional layout. For what it's worth, one high end local retailer recommended the Asko, and another the Miele. Could this be due to different dealer incentives, or a true difference of opinion? (both retailers sold both brands). :)

Workingondream house;
I have used both Asko and Miele. The upper racks are very similar. I bought the Asko 11 years ago because I was scared to try the cutlery tray AND no one has ever heard of it (or Miele or Asko) then. Bosch was starting to make in-roads in the US market.

I think the cutlery is much cleaner with the cutlery tray. Miele essentially has 3 spray arms because there is a small one above the cutlery tray. I don't think the other brands do that. The bottom rack holds more since the basket is not there. However, you lose the height slightly due to the cutlery tray. Every now and then, the lack of height does make a difference. They are both good DWs. You need to go with the rack that works best for your stuff.

"Miele essentially has 3 spray arms because there is a small one above the cutlery tray. I don't think the other brands do that."

Actually, many (most?) do. It is very common to have a little rinse-head up there. I haven't owned any machine in the last 25 years that didn't have one. And none have been Mieles.

We had the same Miele machine installed last week. It cleans very well. It did tarnish a few parts on utensils that were made of aluminum, but the manual suggests not putting in aluminum items. Otherwise, everything is spotless. We use only one teaspoon of CC. Some glasses are a bit wet at the top after the cycle (normal) is finished, but we have not used any rinse aid so far, so cannot complain. We are happy with the purchase.

Where do you buy the Miele diswasher detergent and rinse aid?

I buy it directly from the Miele Gallery location in Boca Raton FL. But it is also for sale on the Miele site.

http://www.mielestore.com/

It's also on Amazon.

Have been using the Diamante for about a week now. It replaced a Kenmore dishwasher that seemed fine -- we felt a little silly replacing it primarily because the Kenmore was ugly and we wanted a fully integrated DW in the new kitchen. Well, we don't feel bad about it at all anymore. The Diamante does so much better at cleaning -- we notice it especially on glasses. And it is so much quieter.

hey asolo - which brands and models of DW did you have that have 3 spray arms ???? I've been doing this a long time and I'd say just them opposite - Hardly ANY have 3, and I cannot recall seeing a single domestic model setup that way. This is usually the domain of the euro brands, and even then it's not the norm.

I'm sure they exist since you said you have/had one, I am just curious what brands these are.

Antss, the GE Profile unit I had in 2006, and the Electrolux in 2007 had a spray arm on the top, but they were small and not a big as the one on the Miele. My friend has a Whirlpool and it just has a water sprinkler on the top.

Thanks - I'll look at them and make a mental note.