I discovered the same thing (only with Bosch). My larger glasses, large cookie sheets and pans didn't fit. So it was back to my original choice, KA. I couldn't be happier, really! :)
Model # is KUDE60. Well, yes I could be happier. If KA made the KUDE70 in black!

I LOVE my KUDE70 stainless steel Kitchenaid dishwasher. I just did another load tonight using the dry heat and it dried mostly all my plastic also and washed and dried my little plastic bedroom garbage can. As long as the little lids are secure in the pouch that is in the front or on the clips, plastic does not melt I have learned. There is a lot of room for dishes and pots and pans (washed two pans tonight)as well as loving the cutlery rack so now I just leave the basket out of the dishwasher. I must thank Monika for her post about deciding on the KUDE60 which had me bring my dishes also to the store.

Also my dishwasher is so quiet and gets all the dishes and cutlery clean.

I have the same dilemma. I have a leaky Maytag, and the leak detection systems on the Miele and the Bosch really have my attention. I'm not sure about how cookie sheets will fit in the new Bosch Evolution dishwashers, but I do plan to find out if I can find one to look at.

I don't see any type of "leak guard" system on the KA machines; am I missing something in the promotional material? My DH says that he's really tired of the "wet sock" alarm system that we have with the Maytag. :-) I am hoping that I don't have to choose between a preferred racking system and leak protection.

Cj

At the risk of piling on, I'm a KUDE60 owner, too and LOVE IT. It fits the big stuff. Like the Miele, it's got the top cutlery rack (I love that). Some folks like to take out the bottom cutlery basket and just use the top silverware rack (which has an adjustment for depth)....but I leave the bottom basket in, too, for cooking utensils. The mesh bag on the bottom/front has solved what to do with the lids to my travel coffee mugs! YAY! I have fatter dishes that didn't fit well in the Miele and they fit beautifully in the KA...along with bowls and cutting boards. I shared your concern about the leak alarm...perhaps my fellow KUDE60 owners can remind me...I think there's an automatic shutoff in a leak situation? But no alarm. I was willing to make the trade off for all the other KA features. Oh, and it cleans! WELL. The KUDE60 does not have a food grinder, like the Samsung does. And I am SOOOO okay with that. The grinder can be loud and some folks report odors with them. KA has a filter you pull out and clean every now and then. KUDE60 is VERY quiet. KUDE70 approaches "stealth." ;-)

Good for you for trying them on. I only found one DW with racks I could stand and it's one of the new Vikings made by Viking. It's finally getting installed this week, so I'll get to find out how I actually like running it!

Something I think you need though is a must have accessory for your floors: a leak stop. It'll turn off the flow of water when the leak starts.

...My DH says that he's really tired of the "wet sock" alarm system ...

Good one! I'll use this at some point!

The appliance salespeople think I am crazy to consider an American made KA (or any other American made) washer. Glad to hear all you KA buyers are happy. I can only get the white KA Superba KUDS30 --need a front venting machine because of counters. I will look at the Viking today-was a little reluctant since they are new to the dishwasher market. LOVE the look of it--will be curious, plllog, how you like it! Leak guard looks great-just need to see if there are any outlets back there to plug it in.
Any Miele owners out there with tips on cookie sheet/9 by 13 size loading?

I just loaded a 12 x 16" cookie sheet. Tilt it. No problem at all.

Taylor6, on the venting issue. The KUDE60 has a top vent, but it is closed during the cycle. It does not vent steam like dishwashers used to. I was concerned about this very same thing...but the KUDE60 (or 70) top vent does NOT vent steam up into your countertops. I think it's 4 hours that it stays closed, then opens later to allow some evaporation of the internal condensed moisture.

Are you supposed to wash cookie sheets? Are they not made of tin which dw's really are not compatible with?
correct me if I'm wrong...My Miele laperla fits all of mine but I have been hand washing them (even with my old american POS dw I had before) because I thought you could not put them in a dw

My cookie sheets are heavy stainless steel and large--14x17 and did not fit along the side bottom rack in the Miele--I tilted them but they took up most of the space and left little room for dishes. The cookie sheets did, however, fit into a Bosch. (I also have some air bake sheets which are made of aluminum and I have always washed them in the dw.)
Bevbran, interesting about your experience with the top vent. I heard different stories from salespeople-some swore they vented moisture, others said not. I am guessing you don't have the heat dry option on your dw so it wouldn't have a need for hot steam to escape.
Anyway, I ordered the KUD30 and it will get installed in a week. I took all my large pans and cookie sheets to the store and loaded them up. In the end it was between the bosch and ka. Both fit the pots and pans, but the ka had more room for other dishes and I liked the idea of having heat dry when I wanted it. I was also a little scared off on the bosch because of some posts and salespeoples' experience with moisture retention. The noise on the ka is 51 which, though not as quiet as the Miele, will be a big improvement over my old machine. As far as leaks....I have a call into my plumber about leak detection devices.

Seems there is a lot of confusion here over dishwasher drying. The moisture on a tubful of hot, wet dishes MUST evaporate and disperse somewhere, somehow, in order to dry them. The drying process itself may or may not involve heating, but the dishes (and interior of the machine's tub) are already hot from the hot water used in washing/rinsing before the drying period begins.

Dishwashers that truly do not vent perform the drying process by condensing the moisture from the hot dishes to the cooler interior walls of the tub (usually stainless steel), where it runs down and collects at the bottom and may be drained away by the machine's pump. The final rinse is typically heated to a fairly high temperature to preheat the dishes for the drying period. The metal tub material cools faster than the dishes to promote the condensation process. This is also a large part of the drying process on machines such as the KitchenAids that have a vent but leave it sealed for a period of time after the cycle ends, at which point the dishwasher and contents have cooled and steam/heat emission is greatly reduced.

Heated vs. non-heated dry does not necessarily determine whether or not a dishwasher has an evaporation vent. My DishDrawer does not have a drying heater, but it does have a vent and blower and definitely exhausts hot, moist air during the drying period. The final rinse may be heated high as 163°F depending on the selected cycle.

I am trying to decide on a dishwasher for our new construction kitchen and the KUDE60 (with a panel) has made the short list.
It seems to be quieter and have more features than the KUDS50 so I think the $200 difference may be worth it.

One question though- does anyone know whether or not it has a delay start feature?

Thanks so much.

I was able to download the owners manual for the KUD60- for those who may be interested, it does have a delay start feature of up to 4 hours.

I do not recommend Blomberg dishwasher right now. Ours was installed last October 2009, and had 2 service issues. Worse, getting parts takes a very long time.

As far as cleaning dishes, it works very well. But like other Europeans, it has very long cycles, and plastic items are not dry when it's done. It's the nature of the beast. You have to give up one thing to get another!

I hope my machine has a happy ending.