Generally, the NORMAL wash program is the best general-purpose choice. Once you select a program, the machine will default to the same program each time you start it. Then all you have to do is press the start button.

There's no need to rinse dishes before placing them in the machine. just scrape off any large pieces of food debris, and put them in. Rinsing just wastes water.

For best results, you should use an enzyme-based detergent, NOT a chlorine based formula. Look at the active ingredients listed on the detergent box. If you see the word chlorine, move to another brand or formula. If you don't see the word chlorine, it's usually safe to assume that you've got an enzyme-based detergent (some brands don't specifically say enzyme). Chlorine based detergents are hard on dishes and cutlery, and not as effective at getting dishes clean.

You'll also need to use a rinse agent like Jet-Dry. Modern dishwashers will provide far superior and spot-free drying results only when a rinse aid is used.

Use dishwasher powder containing enzymes. I like Makers Mark (Sam's Club) or Cascade Complete with enzymes. Some people like the Miele tabs, but I haven't tried them. Stay away from gels.

Don't use too much detergent: our Miele gets great results with far less powder than all the other DWs we've used. I fill just to the first (bottom) line, plus a little in the pre-wash compartment.

Don't rinse your dishes beforehand; just scrape them off. The dishwasher detergent needs to work on something.

Use rinse agent. We typically use regular liquid Jet Dry.

Use the Normal or Economy program for most loads. Your manual lists all the Diamonte programs, & we've used them all (with a different model) except Rinse & Hold.

One great feature of Mieles is that you can load "top rack" things anywhere & they won't get melted or warped.

I will be rinsing my dishes beforehand.Emphasizing ... DO NOT rinse the dishes before loading them! Dump off food scraps, scrape a little, but DO NOT RINSE.

We have the Optima, and I use "Normal" 98-99% of the time (and we do not rinse, and usually have leave stuff sitting a few days in the DW 'til it fills up). Once in a while, if stuff's been sitting for a long few days, and/or if there's some very sticky or baked on items, I'll use the "Pots and Pans" cycle, and I'm not even sure if that's necessary. Also, I will, on rare occasions, sprinkle a little powdered detergent in the pre-wash cup if I think the load warrants it (extra days left sitting, really caked on dirty items....). Again, don't know if that's necessary either.

Those are the only cycles I really use. The only time I've done the rinse/hold cycle is after filling the salt dispenser recently (and that was just to rinse any excess/spilled salt out of the DW before using it again.

FWIW, I do use the Miele tablets. I got great results with Cascade Complete powder, but for a time, they'd stopped selling it at my local supermarket, except for the citrus scented version (which I don't like). I got a box of the Miele Tabs to try, and they really do seem to leave my dishes just that much more shiny and sparkly, and the DW seems to have a fresher smell after running it. Others here on GW have noticed the same thing. The powder works perfectly fine, but for some reason, the M-tabs take it to another level.

I think Miele made the normal cycle long enough so that it will clean most things you put in the machine, so you probably can't go wrong by using it.

In the comments below I am referring to results I get on my machine with my water conditions; others may have a different experience:

Pots and pans uses a higher heat setting so would be good if you are washing these items. I use this setting if I wash encrusted stainless steel pans. If it is non stick and it can take the DW then normal works fine.

Do not put Aluminum pans in your DW. The detergent and hot water may discolor it.

Sani wash - well it is on the machine for those folks who think they need to sanitize something. I almost never use it but it will heat the water hotter during the wash and hold it for an extended time. My model also does 3 after rinses when you use sani wash.

Economy. The Diamante has this cycle while some models do not. Economy cleans very good and I do use it. The thing about it is that it is shorter than the normal cycle, so you could try this a few times and see what you think.

Short - I don't bother with this one because it doesn't have any drying period...I really don't even get this one.

Rinse/hold. I use this cycle if I just eat fish or something that I want to control the odor of, or If I know I will not run the DW for more than 3 days. I typically run the DW every other day and do not do any rinse hold.
I scrape the dishes off with a spatula and do not rinse with water.

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So you can't go wrong by using normal and use pots and pans if you have a heavily soiled load.

Economy is very good so try this and see what happens.

Detergents:

I have a ton of these(Long story) so I don't stick to one brand; I change up every week or two.

Miele tabs work very very well and you can adjust the amount for smaller loads by using 1/2 tab. You have to order them and they are initially expensive compared to other brands...but they do work well, leave a nice shine, and will work very very well in low temperature water.

Cascade and Cascade Complete works OK too. I don't care for any scents of it...but it works.

Electrasol powder. I know I.. know...it contains chlorine bleach. I use it with great results!(I am using it this week)... but don't use it for fine china or any dish that contains decorations on it. I did a patent search for DW detergents and found that one of the problems with chlorine bleach is that it is hard on gold or silver decorations on dishes. Seems that manufacturers could not find anything that would break down dirt, oil and grease as well as chlorine bleach until they discovered enzymes.
So they use enzymes in place to be easier on dishes.

To me this may be why I get very good cleaning results with Electrasol powder. Enzymes vs Electrasol powder with chlorine bleach = no difference in Cleaning. Nothing is left dirty, I can adjust the dosage amount, I like the lack of scent, the manufacturer said it will not harm the machine, this was all I ever used in my previous Miele...so I use it from time to time.

We are all making suggestions but be sure to read your manual, then try different things to see what works best in your water conditions. Start off simple hit that Normal or Economy button, and look for an enzyme detergent. Once you get on to it you can try other options.

Does this mean that all the extra cycles (19 programs!) in an Excella are a waste?

How long can food-encrusted dishes remain in a dishwasher before cleaning capabilities are compromised?

How can one determine whether a particular detergent contains chlorine or enzymes? Do any contain both?

How can one determine whether water softening salt is required? We are on city water, and I haven't detected any difficulty lathering, etc. Do any clothes washers contain a softening system similar to that of Miele's dishwashers?

Has anyone here tried Miele's dishwasher freshener? Has anyone made use of the PC update capability?

We have 2 Excella DWs & don't consider the programs a waste, plus we like the racking. We use Sensor Wash & the China/Crystal programs the most, and have used just about every program.

I've never held dirty dishes longer than 2 days.

The detergent box will say whether it has enzymes or chlorine. I do not believe a detergent can have both.

We didn't initially use salt, but I added it after the DWs reported higher than OK level of hardness. The DW monitors this & only uses salt when needed (automatic).

I don't know of any washing machines with a softening system like the Miele DW. We have a Miele washer & it doesn't have it.

I had dishes waiting a week to accumulate enough to run the load.

Everyone gives good advice. Millpond, the enzymes need food to grab onto, so definitely don't rinse.

Chip, we've gone 4-5 days before running a cycle without a problem (unless I count those spoons of mine, which are a totally separate issue). As to hardness, you can easily buy a kit to test hardness. I also recently found this handy map which may be a start, though of course won't help you completely ID your water:
http://www.water-research.net/images/hardwatermap1.jpg

We chose the Optima over a model below for two reasons. One, we thought the built-in water softener a good idea, and two, we liked the rack configuration better on the Optima than the lower models. The only things I might have liked on the models above the Optima (the Excella for ex.) would prob be the sensor cycle (to take the guesswork out of the cycle choosing equation entirely!), and the split cutlery tray perhaps. I'm sure I could just order that if I so desired one day.

Regarding the split cutlery tray, are the plastic "inserts" all that changed, or has the "frame" that pulls out of the washer also been changed? I'm toying with ordering a second, one-piece full-size tray for our machine which will help when we have big loads one-after-another when entertaining.

The cost jump from Optima to Excella is certainly significant.

The other programs are not exactly a waste and do perform a function. The actions I describe below are what I have found on my machine.

Heavy soil - this can be used for well.. heavy soil..it heats the water hotter, washes longer.

Sensor Wash - this uses a few sensors to control the program length, and the water changes. If the dishes are not dirty the machine will skip the water change between the pre-rinse and the wash and instead just release the detergent into the water. If the soil is heavier the wash period will be extended and hotter water will be used, and some times it will add a third after rinse. The shortest time I've had with this cycle was about 35 minutes.

Water Saver - This program does not do a pre-rinse and uses a lower temperature and does not take as long as the normal cycle and sometimes not a long as the sensor cycle might. Water saver will add a third rinse if the DW finds the dishes are not rinsed enough. It has happened one or two times, so I really got a regular sensor wash those times.

Plastics - this is used to wash plastics. I have never used this cycle.

Cheese - this is used to wash items with baked on cheese and other things like it. The Dw starts with a heated pre-rinse that lasts about 25 minutes, then continues with a very hot wash - it must be around 170F or more..it is hot.

Pasta - to me this is the same as Cheese because it starts with the heated pre- rinse but the wash doesn't last as long. I think these two can be combined and I think on the models released in EUR this year they HAVE been combined.

Large items soiled - with this you remove the top rack and the Dw washes only in the bottom and I think the cutlery tray. Very hot water is used

Large items normal - same as large items soiled except warm water is used. Glasses can be washed in the bottom so this can come in handy if you have tall pans, or whatever. Instead of top solo(found on previous models) you have bottom solo.

Glass no rinse aid--this doesn't matter to me but they like it in Germany. It is used to rinse glasses without rinse aid because rinse aid causes the head on beer to fade.

Glass no rinse aid cold - same as above just with cool water.

Plate warming. HA! This cycle is named something else in other countries. I have my machine language set to UK English and it is called warm pre-wash. It is nothing but a pre-rinse/rinse hold that is heated. So you could use this in place of rinse hold if you had some sticky stuff you wanted to get a jump on. It does leave the dishes warm but....? I don't get it.

Energy Saver - this program uses a lower temperature wash but does take longer than the water saver. The difference between these two seems to be the temperature and time.
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The machine uses a different spray pattern during the wash for heavy soil, cheese and pasta, and automatic load recognition which matches the water fill to the load size is not used on some of the heavier programs.

Starting with the Optima, the machines don't use a set temperature instead the water temperature varies with the amount of soil.

Freshener:
Never tired the freshener so far I don't think I need it.

Cutlery tray:

I understand what you are talking about because my previous Dw had the solid tray. You could pick it up on each side and walk away with it. This one is split but not in half so there is a large side and a smaller one. It comes in handy because you can slide them around/remove a section. Each half has a rail front and back that hooks over the frame so it is suspended from the frame.

Problem is I can't really remember how my older one was in there but I thought I picked it up and then put it down into something that was holding it and it wasn't the outside of the frame. Best to give Miele a call and ask because you could possibly get a new frame - in fact in the brochure in the basket configurations section it is shown with the entire frame.

Thank you all for your advice. So, you will think that I am an idiot, now that I have used the dishwasher for the first time. I did use the Miele tabs as suggested on the many posts I found on the correct soap to use and they worked fine. I killed my aluminum Oxo ice cream scoop. And, I could only wash on the pots and pans cycle because I can't figure out how to change to "normal".

millpond,

To change from the Pots and Pans program to the Normal program the next time you run your dishwasher, push the the door closed to engage the latch, press the power button to turn the machine on, then press the "Program" button. You should see the light move down the list of programs each time you depress the program button. When the little light illuminates next to Normal, press the Start/Stop button and the machine will start a normal wash program.

The next time you turn on the machine, it will automatically default to the Normal program, so all you'll have to do is press the Start/Stop button. The dishwasher always defaults to the same program that was used the previous time the machine was used.

Mill, definitely take a look at the manual too. It has some good instructions, including how to increase or decrease the amount of rinse aid if necessary.

Another tip. We've found that we get nearly dry dishes (with the exception of the water that pools on top of concave surfaces) if we either crack open the door right at the end of the cycle to allow steam to escape or--the opposite alternative--if we just let the dishwasher sit overnight (or all day if we run it before going to work).