I'm interested if anyone has more info as well. I think you're referring to the new BI series which is a replacement for the 600 series. Was originally promised spring of this year, now website says fall, and my local dealer says that he thinks it's winter '08, or more likely, early '09 before they will arrive.

What makes you think it will be in 2009?

All I have heard is Sept 2008 from several sources.

Reliability is it the compressors that fail? or the controller? and how long ago were these problems recent or 3-4 years ago. A real repair person would be good to comment on all these reliability comments.

As I said, this was based solely on my local SZ dealer's opinion. I don't have any reason to believe he'd deliberately misstate the release date, as the new BI's will certainly cost more than the 600's and I'm sure he'd prefer to sell us the more expensive unit for our summer/fall redo, but it's certainly not an "official" statement.

I maybe hoping the 2009 will not be the case. We will be done the kitchen/family redo in June and will be missing the fridge. We will be using the old 18 ft 10 year old fridge. Waiting for the new Sub to be released. I'm hoping to see a demo version in Mid to late May (per the dealer/showroom area)

Thnask for the input.

We're in same boat: I'd make do with existing fridge if I were certain that the BI was available in the Fall, but I don't think I have enough patience to make it into 2009. Hope someone else may have the real story.

My local dealer thought they would be available soon. Then checked with SZ rep and was told September. This tells me that the date is not cast in stone and could movie. Her advice was to not count on September. I thought the same!

Even if these come out in Sept, on a new design and from a company with this kind of relability record, I would want to wait a while and see how the early customers do, before investing. And "investing" it is as in our case, the dual SZ 36" was going to set us back to the tune of $12,000! I guess Bosch is going to get our business now :D.

I think asking when they will show up in the showrooms is important. The sooner they show up there the sooner they will be for sale.

"Company with this kind of reliability record" what does that mean. Light bulbs burn out quicker than expected? or compressor fail weekly?

'"Company with this kind of reliability record" what does that mean. Light bulbs burn out quicker than expected? or compressor fail weekly?'

Do you really want to ask? :) I have outlined it elsewhere before but quickly, we bought a 48" side-by-side about 6 years ago. It has averaged one rapair a year. It came with drawers that kept falling out of the glides. Turned out they were for the wrong unit yet, we were charged $250+ to replace them. A small blower fan blew out, shutting down the unit a couple of years after purchase. At that time, repairman did a major repair also, saying that as soon as the fridge goes out of warranty, a warning light comes out, costing $500+. Next year the fridge stopped working. This time it was a loose connection which the repairman called a manufacturing flaw. Now the switch that turns on/off the light and compressor is intermitten. This time, I fixed it myself by lubricating it but surely, for the most expensive fridge they made at the time, they could afford to put a switch in with higher duty cycle.

And the thing is noisy to boot. And don't try to clean the cooling fins as it is impossible to do so. It has a fine grid and dust gets inside it and doesn't come out.

Meanwhile, the old GE fridge we have in the garage has worked for 12+ years with zero repairs and is quieter. And it is much easier to clean it.

Mind you, it is a nice unit other than issues above. It looks great and has a sense of quality to it, as odd as that might sound. But without addressing the above, SZ has lost us as a repeat customer. We will be buying Bosch/Themador individual columns instead.

I emailed and expressed my disappointment that the BI series
would not be out in the second quarter of this year. I received email saying how sorry they were but the new unit
would be available in Sept. I think I will just stick with the old model 600. I don't think there will be much difference other than filtered water which I am not getting
water dispenser on the door.

Thanks for the heads up. I looked at the columns in the Thermador and the Miele prototype. Looks good but the door shelves were smaller and the overall capacity was smaller. I tossed back and forth due to issues or reliability etc. I saw the video on the new Subs at the Chicago show and I was sold. They have improved the interiorand the air purification is an added feature. If you think the air purification is just marketing check how the large commercial flower and vegtable shops keep things fresh. (Air purification) If have not seen the video I would suggest you do so. I could not convince my DW on the Miele or the Thermador.

I have not seen the video but regardless, if it were easily within our timeframes, I would only give it a very, very cautious look. Why? First because I had no sense that September date was a sure thing. That time frame is a long ways away which means that a number of production/engineering steps have yet to complete. For example, they may be waiting for UL/CSA/FCC certification. If so, these things can fail, requiring engineering changes before production can start. And given the waiting game again to get tested, delays of 3-6 months would not be out of the question.

Then there is the issue of design bugs. In a hurry to get their pre-announced products out, testing may be short changed. This happened to us on washer/dryers. When we bought our top of the unit Maytag Neptunes, everyone here raved about them. And consumer reports gave them a double thumbs up. Of course, that was after people realized that he tilted front-loaders collected water which led to Mildew. Having spent 50% more than any other washer/dryer, it sure was lousy to have to replace them last year with the Duets. But that was an easier affair than a built-in fridge.

As to air purification, I would take that if given to me. But there is no problem that needs fixing in our current SZ in that department. Everything llasts more than what we need and fridge is always smell free. If it fixes something I am not aware of, please let us know.

Instead of air purification, I would have wanted them to hype the units being quieter and more reliable. But there is not a single note about either. When I talk to appliance salespeople about these things they look at me like they have never heard of either. Somehow the feedback is lost there even though CR magazine notes reliability as a key issue for SZ year after year.

I hear you on the size issue on Bosch. But there was a simple solution to that and that was to "super size!" :D That is, going with dual 30 inch. That makes the combo far larger than our current 48". I have already warned my wife that if she complains about lack of space, a divorce will surely be in order :D. This 60 inch combo is barely more expensive than our current 48" Subzero. But of course, does take a lot of space.

Alas, I feel the appeal of new gear like this. So if your remodel is well past September, there is nothing wrong about keeping the unit on your shopping list with a back up plan.

What's not big enough about the Thermador door shelves? I have the columns and I haven't had any problem putting things on those shelves. I love the way they set up and work for us. And they are virtually silent. I'm really glad we chose them.

I will tell you that we changed to Thermador after planning a different fridge because we saw them on the Thermador showroom floor. They were not to dealers yet. The target release had been July 4th (Freedom series, right). It was after that when I saw them, so I'm not sure if their own showrooms had them then, but mine was installed in December or January and they were the first ones I know of actually in a home. That seems to be pretty common with a lot of new model appliances.

And Canuck99, I am dubious of the air purification. I do know that the Thermadors that I have already keep food fresher longer nad I don't exactly think of the cold fridge as a place to worry about bacteria and viruses breeding. But it does play right into a certain part of our culture who would pay anything to get one.

Our local dealer also said we should not expect the new models until Dec/Jan. Does anyone know what the price increase might be?

I guess we will see how it turns out. If you check the Sub web site you will see the installation guidelines and the use and care guides (how to use manual) So I'm not sure it is Jan 2009 away. (more hope than actual knowledge). If it is available in Sept then I will satisfied and after 2 years I will tell you if I'm happy.

I hope you're right. Will not be happy having to live with my 12 yo white Kenmore basement fridge for 5 months. Please provide timing updates if you hear. Thx.

I just received mine...they are sitting in the kitchen and will be installed tomorrow. I can't wait they are beautiful!

39,

What model do you have? When/Where did you order it?

our model is the bI36R/s and the bI36F/S

We had on order for 8 months the monogram all freezer and fridge but changed when they came out with announcement. We ordered these about 6 weeks ago fully expecting them to come in October. To our surprise they came in early. We are in California and bought them thru Pacific Sales.

I love the looks of them! :)

Thanks

Kent, are you saying you got the new SZs that aren't supposed to be out until the fall? Are these the "true" built-in ones with new hinges, etc.??? I would love to see pictures.

yes I have the new ones...they are still installing them and apparently this is the first set that they have installed given they are brand new. Our installers said that they have not even put them in the showroom yet for pacific sales so ours in one of the first. I will take pictures today once they are done and post them.

Kent, that would be awesome. My DH is very excited about these. Thanks. Looking forward to pictures.

Kelleg- The new BI series is built-in, not integrated. If you a building new, the cabinets have to be something like 1 1/2 inches deeper than normal cabinet depth. With the overlay model, all hinges, framing etc are covered.

The details of the install are located in the design guide on SubZero's web page. I had to cut in the 1.5 inch to prepare for the Cab depth install. also pay attention to the Inset esign because it is also lightly wider.