Might be some confusion in terminology here.

As I understand it, a "freestanding" range has a thick riser in the back that has a control panel and contains the oven vent. They are deisigned to go against a wall. Almost all electric freestanding stoves have the oven and burner controls on the backsplash. Gas ranges have the oven controls on the back and the brner controls in the front.

A "slide-in" is a style of range with all controls down front and which offers the option of placing it in a kitchen island as well as against a wall or standing alone by itself. For island installations, there will be no backsplash and a very low oven vent at the very back (although some slide-ins dispense with this and use a vent at the front of the oven -- the Frigidaire induction slide-in and the Samsung "Chef" induction slide-ins being examples of that design.) When placed against a wall, there will be an option for a thin vent-riser/backsplash which is what you typically see with so-called "pro-style" ranges and which is why some folks might think of them as free-standing ranges. The cooktop "brim" or overhang on the sides --- not all slide-ins have that.

Also, standard countertop heights may still leave a gap under the edges of the cooktop overhang.) Slide-ins do not have the overhang, examples being GE's "Cafe" line and all of the so-called pro-style ranges.

As for moving a range, a very tight cut-out can make that problem. With a standard cut-out, the weight may or may not be a big problem. Depends on the floor surface and what is on the base of the feet of the stove. Silicon/plastic floor glides can make moving the stove pretty easy. I have a 300-something pound pro-style range --- about the same as the Miele induction range, IIRC, and more than the Bosch and Electrolux slide-ins. It sits on a smooth laminate floor. WIth the stock feet, I can slide the beast in and out all by myself without any trouble. (Never even needed the furniture glides I bought for it.) I have no first hand experience with the Miele but I'm guessing that it either has wide and easily sliding feet or at least feet that can use stick-on glides. Might be worth checking on that floor model you are looking at.

In your case, you might want to measure the cut-out width again. The
carpenter/cabinet maker's rule of thumb for countertop cut-outs is 30
1/8" (a/k/a 30.125" or 76.2 cm). The standard width for a nominally 30"
range is 29 7/8 (29.875") although a few models (particularly pro-style
ranges) are 30" wide. IIRC, your range --- I'm guessing it is the
the Electrolux EW30IS65JS which I considered getting three years ago ---
spec'd a 30" width. That is why I am suggesting measuring the cut-out
width again.

Anyway, as you might guess from what I wrote above, I just live with the gap the same as I did with the predecessor freestanding ranges. There is no getting round having to slide out the range every once in a while to get anything sticks in the gap or dribbles on the sides of the range.

That said, like Fori, the gap is not very wide and there is not a whole lot that falls down there. For me, "every once in a while" is a couple of times a year.

The front of my cutout is less than 30" for some reason. The E'lux fits and the Samsung probably would but the miele won't, I'll have to have about 1/8 shaved off on both sides. If it's done well, the gap should be small. The other issue is that these counter edges are not polished like the front counter edges are (because they were hidden by the lip of the slide in). I guess for a freestsnding those edges should be rounded and polished.

Not all freestandings have the back panel like the old ones. The miele is meant to push flush to the wall, controls are on the front, but no lip to cover the gap.

Miele or Samsung??

Miele, you will love the oven. M-touch oven is pretty easy to use and can do a lot of easy cook via programs. Moisture plus is also good for bread baking and moist roasted meat. Some of its accessories: side racks, wire racks, and telescopic runners are also pyro compatible where you can just leave them in in self cleaning mode.

My freestanding Bluestar has no controls at the back, sits tight to the wall, and the side "gap" is barely noticeable. I couldn't even slip a butter knife or credit card between the range and the counter if I wanted to.

cookncarpenter - that's what I needed to hear. The key is that the counter is tight. Are the edges of your counter that go around the range polished/finished, or rough stone? Mine are currently unfinished.

My range sits about 1/2" higher than the counter as per mfg. specs.

Although the counter edge is eased, I have soapstone so it is not polished...