The main differences in the cooktops (besides price) are (1) Wolf has a control layout that I prefer--I like the touchpad on the side, (2) texture vs. slick top, and (3) timers on the Miele actually turn off burners, but not on the Wolf. I only know that from excessive shopping, not actual use. And I know less about ovens, but I wouldn't feel compelled to get matching brands unless the separate units were both what you wanted. Half off sounds nice...But it's OK to go half Wolf and half Miele unless they look really bad together.

Bring your pots into a showroom to try them out. Function-wise I suspect you would be happy with any of these, but layout may be another story. I chose the Miele (not with the flex burner - was not out yet) because I wanted to easily be able to use 3 12" skillets at the same time - it's great for that, and much better than the newer model IMO or any of the other models. Many of them just have smaller hob sizes which are not as good for larger skillets (boiling water doesn't matter so much - so depends on what you are doing). Love the separate burner timers too - we use them a lot more than we thought we would for our pressure cooker, rice, pasta, drying cast iron, etc. Definitely thrilled with our choice all the way around! You probably can't make a wrong choice here though.

Thank you all for great info! Wolf's cold spots in the middle is a little bummer. I wouldn't expect this kind of design on 5 way bridge cooktop. The elements suppose to be made by French company Jaeger Hiflux. Their Crescendo model is quite different from what I have ever seen in induction cooktops. Check this out.. http://www.jaeger-sas.com/#!induction-en/cl7w Anyway since Wolf has no flex in bridge mode then we might take another look into 36" GE Cafe model which was #3 on our list. It has only one no flex bridge mode, but it's much cheaper than Wolf or Miele. That model has many positive reviews including #1 on CR rating (99 out of 100). On both GE & Wolf we like simple, clean interface. GE is better with 17 vs 10 levels on Wolf. On GE minus side is power sharing (not quite sure how much problem is that in real use) and only 1 year warranty vs 3 year on Wolf. However much bigger problem on GE Cafe is SS color. My DH says that specific color is clashing with our choice of Silestone Kensho countertop (light gray). I don't see it as bad but we might loose it on that argument. No question the decision between Miele vs Wolf vs GE Cafe is giving us more headaches than any other appliance.

@aspen75, I have that same griddle that I use on mine. I understand and experience what you are saying and it is a bit of a disappointment. However, it has never hindered my cooking abilities on it. I mainly use my griddle for fish, shrimp, or pancakes (DH sometimes uses it for squash and zucchini) and because the heat ends up dispersing throughout the griddle, I never have issues with the food I cook. Sometimes I might have to move my fish or shrimp around as it cooks, but it still cooks. I'm still very pleased with my Wolf and so glad I went with it over gas, which we had before and which definitely had far worse hotspots. I have not tried a cast iron griddle on mine because I like the ease of cleaning the one I do have. Plus, I have a Blackstone on my patio just off my kitchen and I use it a ton in the spring, summer, and fall when I truly need a griddle ;)