What detergent are you using? Is your filter clean? I have no suggestions beyond that.

Good luck!

The pet bowls are blocking the upper spray arm from cleaning the top of the mugs. Those shelves are designed to be for more cups/mugs or larger utensils. The pet bowls are simply too big to be placed there. The top spray arm is above the cutlery tray, the bowls prevnet it's water from reaching the top of the mugs. The rule in dishwasher loading, never have one item block another item from above, the sides or below. Waster must be able to reach all sides of the dishes to do an effective cleaning job. I bet if you removed the dog bowls from the cup racks, the left over debris/gunk on the mugs would be gone.

The mugs also appear to be sitting flat/level in the rack. Placing them at an angle so the water and debris runs off would also likely do the trick. I can't say about Miele, but some of the newer EnergyStar / water-miser dishwashers don't as strong a spray compared to older units, which is one of the reasons for the longer cycle times that are common nowadays. This makes it even more important to be careful not to block spray access around all sides of items such as those mugs.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I didn't realize that the top spray arm worked the middle basket...thought it was for the silverware tray only. The one crazy thing is, as I mentioned above, the problem seems to only happen on sensor wash which to me makes no sense. I'm a bit disappointed as those shelves are a wonderful place to put the little bowls. Love the dishwasher, however loading it is still a challenge for me, especially with bowls. Really appreciate all of your help
MOT

I'm having the same problem. I quit using it to wash bottles (baby) because it left a funny film on them, no matter which wash I choose. I frankly just hate the thing!

I'm very happy with our Miele DW but rarely load it as fully as I've seen other posters do. Why? 1) Probably habit. 2) Because our wash "trigger" is often running out of something we'll need for our next meal. 3) Because we rarely put pots or pans or cooking utensils in it.

So far no one has answered the question what detergent are you using? I found that using Electrasol Gel left film all over everything. Switched to Electrasol tab for the next run and everything was fine. Most other detergents work well. I also found that seventh generation did a terrible job by leaving everything including the insides of the machine covered with grit. So what detergents are in use and how much?

My thoughts on the mugs.

I mostly use the sensor cycle and wash mugs in my LaPerla but I don't usually load the ones with deep ridged bottoms on the sides. I load these down the middle of the middle rack because they sit a a sharper incline that allows the water to flow out easier. If I do wash ridged items on the sides and don't angle them, I expect to find water and perhaps trapped bits left in the tops because it is being held by the ridges and cannot slide off. Sometimes this happens, most times it doesn't.

In the pictures the mugs look to be under the center of the pet dishes. No matter where the water is spraying from, water will end up falling and when it does it will cascade down over top of the items. There must be enough flow to the outside and top of the mugs to move the dirt trapped in the underside ridge of the mugs. Even the water that hits the inside of the pet dish may not do this because if any kind of stream hits the insides of this pet dish the water may be pushed the sides of it letting it fall down but not into the center of the mugs below...so loose dirt that would otherwise be rinsed off and taken care of by the DW will remain in place--small amounts of water may dry off but bits will remain.

Look at the right side of the middle rack. At the bottom there are V shaped indentations. If you angle a mug handle or items into this V it will hold the cup or many other things up on an incline.

I have used Cascade gel, Cascade Complete Gel and Cascade Complete powder. One Miele service tech told me it didn't matter what I used, another suggested the plain cascade because the Cascade Complete would be releasing rinsing agent into the wash earlier than it should. Both agreed that my residue was probably not attributable to the detergent. As I said, the wierd thing is that it only seems to happen when I use the Sensor Cycle. Did a wash earlier on Economy with the mug and pet bowls and the finished washload was completely clean. I guess there are things about the way this machine works which completely different than the standard machines.

Cascade Complete does not contain rinse aid as far as I know, so that tech needs to go home.

I've used all of the Cascade powders and pacs and am now using the Gel. I alternate detergents each week. The gel seems to work well and with powders and gels you can put some in the prewash cup for a little extra boost. When you use the gel are you setting your detergent dispenser to Liquid? I do and that works well.

The Economy cycle is less intense and can do less water changes than the Sensor cycle so that is a puzzle plus, at least on my machine, Economy also uses the sensor because just like the sensor cycle it will add an additional rinse if it finds the soil level is high. You know there is a settings option to adjust the sensor so that it adapts to heavier soil. I've tried it once but didn't see any difference so returned it to the normal setting.

I guess try all the cycles and see which ones work best for you.