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Miele Columns vs. Sub-Zero Bi48SD Fridge/Freezer

13 years ago

HELP! I'm trying to decide between The Miele fridge, freezer columns with the ice and water dispenser and the Sub Zero 48 inch built in with dispenser. Does anybody have that miele or have any advice? I don't want to make an expensive mistake.

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Comments (5)

jgopp
13 years ago
What is the overall difference in price? It's mostly up to your budget and what you find to be the most useful. I'm not sure where the Miele is made, or if that is even something you consider but sz is made in USA.
research_queen
13 years ago
I also debated between those 2, and ultimately chose the SZ because it cost less. SZ has a separate 2 separate compressors; one for the fridge and one for the freezer. Miele has 2 completely separate units; the fridge and freezer are not attached. SZ has the motor and compressor above the unit, whereas Miele has it below. For a short person, the top shelf may be difficult to reach on the Miele. The interior of the Miele is (imho) glamorous - it is lighted so beautifully has a sleek appearance. The SZ is nice on the interior (and the self closing drawers are an added bonus), but not as glamorous. But it's a fridge, so really, does the aesthetic of the interior matter.
Anyhoo...my point, i guess, is that you can't go wrong. They are both great choices. For me, the Miele was not worth the extra $4500.
BTW, jgopp, Miele appliances are manufactured in Germany,
Good luck jjudd. Let us know what you decide!
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Much longer than any other fridge we've ever had LOL And that comes after the units the Miele's replaced... brand spanking new never before used GE Monogram top of the line all fridge and freezer units THAT HAD MOLD GROWING in the drip pan RIGHT NEXT TO THE VEGGIE DRAW within one year of purchase. Seriously though, we used to throw out so much and now find it lasts way longer. We have one drawer for veggies and another just for fruit. We eat so much that we are eating everything before it goes bad and only shopping once a week or every 10 days for fresh fruit and veggies. I used to shop at least once and sometimes twice weekly with the old fridges both the one original to the house and then with the GE one in our new remodel too. It took me a while to track down the mold growth and when GE wouldn't fix it, the fridge had to go. I also plan meals to use the most perishable stuff (soft fruits and veggies first) first and the hardier stuff later in the week, a habit I needed to develop with our old fridge (before we even began the remodel). With the Miele I have come across veggies dh had purchased up to two weeks previously and they are still fine.
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Thanks for all the comments!! Re price, the models I'm looking at are comparable to SubZero and Gaggenau. Turns out there's a new Miele showroom, so I went there today, but they didn't have the 30" freezer. What I did learn (as those of you who have them know) is that the fridge door holders come out of their rims like the wire ones in the freezer do. Also, that the shelves (the rims) remove by sliding them to the top. This rail system is very secure, but that's why the pieces come out--so you can clean easily without removing all of them. Tommy, thanks for the custserv review! Thanks, Lucypwd, for the answer about the deli drawer. I've been very confused about that. The "floating" drawer seems to be in the 36" over under, where it's small and slides back and forth under a shelf. David, I don't know of my own experience, but all of the literature calls the lights halogens, and the guy at the showroom called them "appliance halogens". Maybe they really are LEDs, but that's not what they say. I also found out that the columns are identical in every size, just wider. Has anyone seen the 30" freezer? Does the icemaker extend all the way across? Or is there some kind of storage next to it? Canuck, I guess you might not have had your SZ for long enough to really know, but have you noticed the ethylene filter working? One more good I learned is that, according to the rep, the kit for installing the units next to each other is a heat shield, and works no matter which direction they open. (SZ have to open armoire style.) They also told me that having a Miele certified installer do the installation doubles the warranty. Re construction, the rep said that while the box, compressors, and other big parts are made in the Turkay plant, the electronics are made by Miele in Germany. He said that they spent 7 years developing the American style refrigerators. That sounds like so much marketing but is probably pretty true. I'm pretty convinced to go with the 30" and 30". I can stand dealing with the kind of issues Lucy is having, if necessary (I was in the showroom for the better part of an hour, and they had three fridges and two freezers running, and all were practically silent, so I'm hoping your tech can fix yours). And I like the sizes and fitments better than on any other units I've seen. More comments are surely welcome. :)
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No, it isn't a terrible idea providing you are aware of a few caveats and limitations. I have an all fridge unit with the glass door in my kitchen. There will be NO warranty as it will be installed in a residential kitchen. IMHO, it's worth the risk as these units are about one-quarter the price of a SubZero. The actual refrigeration unit is fairly simple and can be serviced by anyone who works on refrigeration. They are not quiet if that's important to you. Having two units would probably be fairly noisy. True does manufacture several units that can be installed with remote compressors to mitigate the noise.
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smbh
13 years ago
FWIW - we chose a Miele - not the same model you are considering - over the SZ (we compared the 48 side by sides). We loved the Miele for its interior lights and shelving system. We are very very happy with it. Our prior fridge was a SZ (it was 20 years old by the time of the remodel) so Im sure you can't go wrong. But we really love the Miele.
plllog
13 years ago
Just for clarity, the Miele cooler boxes are made at the BSH factory in Turkay. The electronics are made by Miele, I believe (but am not sure) in Germany, and I've heard that final assembly is in Germany. Still not USA, but for what it's worth.

I chose Miele primarily because the units fit better in my kitchen. I grew up with SubZero and originally assumed I'd get that. Both are good. SubZero has a long history of mostly exceptional units. Miele created the current offerings for the North American market so there's much less of a record, but the repair folks seem to think they're just as good.

Things I liked better about Miele, besides the sizes, include the lower drawers that are the full depth of the firdge and the shallow door shelves, the height, the feel of the drawers and shelves, the angle of the doors when open, and, of course, the glamour lighting. I also like how easy it is to remove the shelves and baskets for cleaning. I think one of the weak points, however, is where the clips that hold the drawers on the rails connect. They're a little too plasticy, sometimes squeek, and I worry that they may break at some point. Oh, and getting the filters in and out is harder than it looks. OTOH, I love the drawer temperature selections.

Word of warning: The dispenser is the weakest part of any unit, and the ice maker is second. You might look into the merits of the two models on that level as a decision point besides price. I have no information about it on these particular units, however.

Whichever you choose will be excellent. Enjoy!
littlesmokie
13 years ago
My post may not help you since we explicitly did NOT want a water dispenser because of the risk of leaks pllog alluded to above.

That said, have you also seen the new sub zero 27" columns that came out this summer? This is ultimately what we decided to go with, after also considering the Miele columns and the 48" SZ.

We chose the SZ columns because they take up less linear space than the Miele (54" vs 60") and I liked the interior layout of the SZ column better than the Miele. I like to be able to see everything and it seemed like half the door space is lost on the Miele columns. (You can see the drawing of the interior space configuration at the link below.) I also couldn't get past the "glamor lighting" of the Miele-it always just looked like a bathroom vanity mirror to me, LOL.

I'll just echo the other posters and say, really, I don't think you can go wrong with either a Miele or a Subzero fridge, they both seem quite well regarded :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Sub-Zero IC 27R

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