We have very soft water (0 grains). As a result I use very little detergent and a bit more rinse aid. I've gone to Miele tabs and use no more than 1/2 for most washes. Rinse aid dispenser is at 4 -- one tick above average. Was using Cascade powder but got much better results with the tabs. The combo of soft water, more than minimal soap and hot water sometimes causes glassware to streak or etch so less is more. As antss says, change only 1 thing at a time. As for cycle length, it doesn't bother me at all. We put the DW on at night before we got to bed. If I need a faster cycle I use china/crystal. For most large loads we use Normal. For just dishes -- none or few pots -- we use china/crystal.

Express takes about 45 mins without turbo; about 40 with turbo. It's a very handy cycle that I use a good deal and for small loads. No idea about Normal as I put it on and go to bed but the Miele website should have that info. I find the racks very flexible but that tends to be an individual judgment. Usually I have the right back rack down for pots or bowls. We're so spoiled now all our cookware goes in. Thing with this dw is you can just pile everything on everywhere and it all gets clean. Here is a link that might be useful: miele

I think I want a stainless Miele dishwasher with hidden controls, but I don't like any of their handle options. In my quest to decide on visible vs. hidden control dishwasher (see my earlier post), I discovered the option mentioned in this post: Order a Miele fully-integrated unfinished dishwasher along with the optional "blank" (no holes, no handle) stainless front panel, no-holes (Miele part number 21995337D). However, I've looked at the cartoon installation instructions referred to above, and I can't quite figure out how this works with a stainless panel. The instructions seem to show how it works with a wood panel, but I'm unclear on how my own handle would attach to a stainless panel. I realize you can drill through the stainless (well, I can't, but my installer can), but I'm not sure what a handle would "grab onto" in a stainless panel, because I'm not sure what the stainless panel looks like out of the box. If you order part number 21995337D, do you get 3/4-inch thick stainless steel? The install instructions say the panel has to be 3/4 inches thick, but if it were pure metal that would weigh 100 pounds! Or is it a thin sheet of stainless over some type of wood? My problem is that I can't figure out if I need some special type of handle with special dimensions, or if this stainless, no-holes, no-handle panel from Miele is engineered in some way to grab onto any handle that can be screwed in from behind. Has anyone ever seen this panel, and can you explain how it works to install a custom handle onto it?

Your repair guy is all over the map. On one hand he says maybe temperature or low water, then goes on to say the Gel has a tendency to clog....which would have nothing to do with low water level or temperature. However, he has mentioned the things I, too, would focus on....except for the gel part. What you've just described here is most likely an obstructed drain line....which is pretty common. You got it partially cleaned out with your DWMagic and vinegar so it seems like your problem's solved. I suspect it isn't and will come back....it usually does. Suggest you take a minute and do this: Disconnect your drain line from its connection point under the sink. Get a good look in the drain line end and into the discharge connection tube. This will take minutes and will tell you a lot. Stick your finger in there and examine whatever clings to it. Whatever that is is the stuff that will be accumulating again and eventually causing the obstruction that's slowing your drain and leaving junk all over your dishes. After that, on your next load do check the water level in the machine after the fill is complete. Fill-solenoid problems are pretty common and easy/cheap to fix if that's a component of the problem. I'll bet its fine, but there's another easy check. Low water is another culprit that will, indeed, leave crud all over your dishes. I think that's probably OK because of your description of good results after your magic/vinegar cleanout. That's why I'm suspecting the drain line instead. From your description, I have a hard time accepting the "bad gel" theory. However, powder works fine, too so use what you want. Of course I'm sitting here at cyber-distance and haven't seen what you've seen so I need to back off a notch. However, your description appears to me to be tell-tale.