I hope it's not risky, because that's what I just bought! (ordered, not yet installed)

The two main reasons I chose it over a higher model are:

1) I have a whole house water softener and didn't see a reason to pay for another one in the dishwasher.

2) I only ever use 2 cycles on the DW I have now (normal and occasionally a pots and pans scrub), so I really couldn't see myself ever using more than the 6 settings the Inspira has (though looking forward to trying the economy and express cycles, I admit!).

From what I have read here, many still consider the "bottom" of Miele's line to be better than many other mid-range or even high-end dishwashers. Fingers crossed that's true! :-)

What honeychurch said. It was installed in October and I've used the stuffin's out of it. Three loads yesterday, not uncommon when baking and entertaining. Not one regret or problem.

Miele's model vary little throughout the line. The basic chasis is the same. Moving up gets you creature comforts. More adjustable racking, more insulation for less sound, a water softener, more wash programs, and at the top - auto door closing.

We got out Optima instead of the model one or two below it for exactly two reasons. 1) we liked the bottom rack configuration on the Optima (in late 2006) better than the lower models. 2) we have moderately hard water and thought the built-in water softener would be beneficial--the guy who sold it to us said to get the lowest model with the softener, we didn't need anything higher.

I don't know if the drying system is still different on some of the lower models, so that might be a consideration. Otherwise, if you don't need the softener, and don't care about the rack configuration, you should be fine with whichever model fits your budget and your needs.

smbh,

I went with the Miele Diamante, which is the model above the Inspira, but is one model below the Optima. I felt is was a good compromise, as it had the extra features I wanted, such as the water softener, collapsible racks, and delay start.

I have tried every wash cycle (including the Normal, Pots & Pans, and China Chrystal). Even though the cycle times are different on each, everything comes out equally clean no matter how dirty they are going in. Over the past week I've been only using the China Crystal mode (even though I'm not putting China or Chrystal in the unit) as it is more gentle on my cutlery.

Regarding the quietness, I've heard most of the Miele models in the showroom, and all sounded pretty much the same, though the top-end La Perla was clearly the most quiet. I have no regrets with the Diamante. It does what I need and is plenty quiet enough. I'd rather save the extra $1200 that the La Perla would have cost. But if you don't need the extra features on the Diamante or Optima, such as the delay start or collapsible racks, then the Inspira should be good enough.

The drying system is now the same on all of their models---for us that sealed the deal for the Inspira (and was a strike against it when we first started looking two years ago). We had exactly the same question, and since even the Inspira is beyond our official budget for the dishwasher, I asked a LOT of questions. Essentially, as you move up the model line, you pick up features, rack options, and finishes---so if you need those features you jump to whichever feature you need. (We have a Miele vacuum too and it actually reminded me of the way their vacuums work---all basically the same bones, but with lots of different bells and whistles so you have to figure out what you're looking at and what you actually need.)

At the end of our conversation I looked at the guy and said, "so if this is will be the first time we've ever had a dishwasher..." and he smiled and told us to just go for the Inspira. We were also told that Bosch does not work the same way with its low-end and high-end models (that is, that the machines themselves are actually different at different ends of their spectrum---DH was quite taken with the $400 price tag on one!) though that might just be salesman-speak.

The Inspira doesn't have a delay start and the Optima does. I use mine every night so this is important to me, although I understand the Mieles are so quiet that it may not be a big deal.

"that might just be salesman-speak."

in this case it's not. you really don't think there's $1600 of profit for bosch with their $2000 top of the range model, do you?