You know, it's really interesting to see the initial post that started this whole thread. Why am I here? My 7-year old Miele 9820 has bit the dust. AGAIN. This thing has never worked right. I have had it serviced so many times. The belt has been replaced at least 3 times. The last time was just 2-years ago. And this dryer has been used minimally since I've had it. For the most part it's been one adult and one child using it. There was even about 6-9 months where it was not used at all. So what gives?! And I had a problem, too, with the 45-minute "warm" cycle. I believe that, had I not caught the problem, there could have been a fire. To make a long story short, I was drying a brand new twin size comforter. I came down before the cycle ended, noticed a strange smell and pulled out the brand new comforter (yes, it was "burn your ass hot") and discovered that it had started to melt. I do not even want to imagine what would have happened if I hadn't gone to check on it early. As I said, I've had problems with this thing since the beginning. You can see I even made a post here about it needing service only 1 month after having it. The amount of money I've spent getting it repaired, it ruining a brand new comforter, shrinking clothes all the time because it constantly over heated makes it nothing but an expensive mistake several times over. And the risk of a fire leads me to conclude that I'm done with it. I will not waste more time or money on it. I could have bought at least 3 dryers with what I've sunk into it. I am appalled at Miele's total lack of customer service. They have never done anything but be argumentative and not attentive in the least. It's apparent that the tech people are either not properly trained or are dealing with issues that are simply not fixable. Nothing has ever gotten fixed to resolve the constant issues. Whatever the case, a supposed quality dryer should not have this many issues, so frequently, in this short of a time span. I even e-mailed Miele when the dryer melted the comforter and they never bothered to respond. I will never buy another Miele product. They do not stand behind them and they don't seem to care if there's a potentially dangerous product out there. They should have replaced the dryer when it became apparent that the issue was not fixable. That's the least the could have done since we all pay a premium price. And this dryer should have been recalled a long time ago.

Yes, mine is electric. Frankly, I can not say the noise is much different, but certainly having the exhaust air blow back into the dryer housing is not a good idea. Worth a look next time you have the dryer out.

1) Should the door hinge be "upgraded" like the washer? My washer has the newer roller hinge, but the dryer does not (the dryer hinge is a vertical blade, unlike the washer's horizontal one). Will this cause a problem, and is Miele changing these on dryers?Your dryer is fine, as the latch receiver is the same as it has ever beenÂno modifications known to date. I am experiencing some rattling. This is not vent related, I have the newer lint filter with holes on the top, and it's not due to noise from clothes. Testing with only two towels, I get the standard "whooshing" sound for maybe 10 minutes. Then, some rattling (sounds like a metal screwdriver tapping on a metal plate, at a rate of 2-3 taps per second) for 30 seconds. Then no rattling for another 15 minutes. The sound isn't much louder than a metal zipper thrashing in the tumbler, but it's definitely coming from inside the machine. I've read other rattling posts, and was wondering if this sound is normal, or if this needs to be repaired.This noise is emanating from where the hose connects to the rear of the dryer. Depending on how your dryer hose connects (e.g., mounting flange on flexible duct) you will have to reach around and snug it into place better. I had the exact issue, and yes, it did sound like metal tapping.

mrb627 "How much time does the EXTENDED WASH option add to the wash cycle?" I can only speak for my W1986 unit. How much time is added depends on what cycle you select. It will add a different amount of time for cottons a different amount for perm press different amount for delicates..and so on. It also depends on how long it took the machine the last time I used that cycle and that temp with the extended option. Finally after the machine starts it will sense the size of the load and reduce even the extended time if the load is not full. The last time I used extended on a cottons cycle of 140F the initial time displayed was 1 hour 41 minutes. However after the machine determined the load size the time got reduced to 1 hour 15 minutes. The initial regular time for this type of load(wash, three rinses, with spins between) is 54 min. at 140F and 49 min. at 120F. Even this will get reduced to about 36 if the washer is not full. The other thing about extended on my machine is that it treats the rinses different. You get a long rinse, a short rinse with longer soak pauses,and a longer final rinse. On the regular cycle all of the rinses are the shorter length but the middle rinse still has the longer pause which allows the clothes to soak a bit in the water. The final difference is that the machine will allow more time to balance the load for the final spin and the final spin is longer. This is for the W1986. I have no experience with the newer washer so cannot say how it operates in the extended mode.