Lynn, we recently had to replace our Bosch & went with a Miele this time. Both are very quiet & we love, love, love the Miele. The dishes are cleaner, esp. silverware, no residual dampness which we had with the Bosch. Ours has the silverware, shallow upper rack which we really like, too. It's easy to load & seems to have more space than the Bosch did. Ours is the Futura Dimension. Not sure if it comes in black...we got stainless, but it has an easy finish to keep clean. Good luck...let us know what you get. BTW, my bro worked for GE all his working life, as an engineer & he & his wife love their GE DW. On the Miele, we live where there is soft water, so no need to do the salt thing, but it does accommodate for that.

I have a Bosch (800 series) and it is so quiet that I sometimes worry about whether it is really on or not. Fortunately, I have some separation between the kitchen and the living room, but not as much as I would prefer. If I had to replace it, I would probably get a Miele, but for now that is not necessary. We've had the Bosch for about four years now, and it does a very good job of getting the dishes clean. I use Cascade Complete (action packs), and when I used Cascade Platinum, the detergent left a strong scent on the dishes, which affected the way the food tasted. Cascade Complete has less scent and therefore is preferable to me and gets the dishes just as clean. I would prefer scentless detergent.

I have an 800 series Bosch that I bought last year and a 15 year old Bosch in a different home. They are both excellent and extremely quiet - the new one probably a little quieter. I also had a Miele in a different house where we did a complete kitchen remodel. It was also quiet but I prefer the performance of the Bosch and it was half the price of what I paid for the Miele ten years ago. Among other things the Miele etched my glassware even though the softener was not used and completely deactivated by the MIele tech. Supposedly it had to do with soft water and hot temperature. Miele could never resolve the problem so I ended up only being able to use the China/Crystal cycle (lower temperature) in an effort to minimize the etching - none of the other cycles I paid a small fortune for. And ironically I never washed crystal for fear it would still etch and that was one of the reasons I bought this very expensive DW. I enthusiastically drank the Miele Kool-Aid prior to the DW experience.

In our first house we had an Asko that was quiet; you had to touch it to figure out if it was on.

We got a set of FP drawers in our "new house" and I love them. I cannot abide any other style of d/w. The ergonomics are so much better. I went on to replace my DW at our lake house w FP drawers. Then, when we did our beach house 2yrs ago, I got two sets of FP drawers, one set for the K proper and one for the Butler's pantry.

None of the FP units are as quiet at the Asko, but the most recent set at the beach is pretty quiet. I think they have engineered in an improvement.

Personally, I will never again use an old-fashioned d/w that practically requires one to hit the floor to load and unload. You can control for noise somewhat by how you install it, too.

Another vote for Bosch. So quiet that I thought it was broken and not working the first time I ran it. I do not use the third rack, though.

First, make sure your dishes fit in the dishwasher. The Bosch racks are too narrow for my dishes. The only one that fit my dishes is KA, and the model I have is so quiet that I didn't believe it was running when I first turned it on. I've had two repairs; the 3rd rack works very well to get the items up there clean, but burnt on food does need a hand assist or multiple trips to the dishwasher.

I've owned four Bosch DWs and none has ever required a repair or replacement. Like others wrote. it is so quiet, sometimes you forget it is on. The 800 series is their quietest. The important thing to note is to use rinse agent and keep the door closed throughout the cycle. Also consider Miele, but for a step up in price and reputation.

While my refrigerators and freezer and cooking appliances are top of the line our dishwashers are about as commonplace as you can get. We have a GE Profile at home and another one at our mountain home. Both are so quiet I have to place my ear next to them to hear if they are on. Even when filling with water they're quiet. Both are now near 10 years old and nothing has ever broken on them.

Bosch, super quiet, but plastic items will not be dry at the end of the cycle (in case that's a deal breaker).

Thank you all!

Mtn: I went with a microwave drawer when we had this kitchen redone and still love it. Dishwasher drawers sound like a very practical concept! Unfortunately, we'd have to rip out and redo all our very beautiful, custom, rustic cherry cabinets we had put in if we went with dw drawers. I am going to remember that though, if we ever sell this place and move. I went with kitchen drawers instead of cabs, and a microwave drawer. I'm all for dw drawers someday, too!

I'm taking notes and am hoping to head out with DH on Saturday morning to shop and compare . . . and hopefully buy. After reading all your reviews here so far, I'm definitely leaning towards a Miele Crystal. It has a built-in water softener, which would be a very good thing, as we're on a community well here in the mountains and have hard water. I hadn't realized until today that certain dishwashers now have them built in. You all are helping me so much, and I really appreciate it . . . thank you!!!

Bosh with third rack. Best Bosch I have had although the others cleaned equally well but the interior space is well designed.

On my 3rd Miele DW. Not that I've gone through 3, just that with the last two homes and this 3rd one, I've bought a Miele DW. That's how much I like them. I buy the second or third-from-the-bottom-of-the-line each time. I don't need the extra features that the higher ones have.

I have never had a problem, they clean well, they have the most efficiently-laid out tines IMO, and their cutlery tray is better designed IMO. I have never had etching that was mentioned above. There have been several discussions on the Appliances Forum about the reformulations of DW detergents in recent years. Detergents that worked great for years suddenly don't, and often the amounts of detergent you are accustomed to using need to be less now. Too much detergent causes etching when it didn't before. Also Rinse Aid should always be used when before you didn't have to. The inexpensive supermarket rinse-aid is fine.

Whichever brand DW you decide on, don't get a DW with a "built-in disposal". These add noise, are flimsy, and barely can grind anything - they are not at all resembling the disposal in your sink. The built-in DW disposals are also one more thing to break. Brands like Miele and others don't use those disposals. Instead they have a small tray at the bottom to catch debris. It takes about 10 seconds to open it and 10 seconds to close it (I am not exaggerating), and I rarely find anything in it.

Kitchenaid with the third rack here; LOVE it. Should have replaced our old GE Profile sooner. It's not even close to this one.

Have a Bosch 800. It has the third rack and we use it all the time. Dishes get clean. The machine is so quiet that you can still carry on a normal conversation in my galley kitchen when the dishwasher is running. I absolutely am in love with this machine. Have been using it, either two or three years.

I'm on my 3rd Bosch in 3 houses. Had a high end KA that was a sour lemon, switched to Bosch and never looked back. My current house is open concept with the LR right off the kitchen and we can't hear the dw, and have to look for the floor light to see if it has finished. My current is a 500 series with the bar handle and you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

I'm with Mtn on the dishdrawers. We have had a set for roughly 10 years, they are fairly quite, and great for empty nesters. We run one usually every day or so and they are much more ergonomic to load/unload. Wouldn't go back to a standard dishwasher.

We replaced an existing dw with this one. Are you sure DDs won't fit into your opening?

We have had a Whirlpool Gold for about 5 years, and we love it. It is quiet (can barely hear it run quiet), and gets everything clean. It has a "top rack only" feature that I thought DH and I would use when our kids went off to college - and we haven't used it yet (just run the DW less often).

Our last one was a Bosch, and we replaced it with our current Kitchen Aid. I like the KA much better, and it is significantly quieter than the Bosch was.

Three bosches in three different houses. Loved them. Last one was an 800 series with the third rack, which worked great for my silverware. I could hear it when it first started but after that the only way I could tell if it was running was the light that would shine on the floor as an indicator.

Love my Bosch. So quiet and it gets things clean. It doesn't have 3 racks unless you count the racks you an flip down and use for small items like tongs/spatulas. But now there is a version with a silverware rack on top. My SIL has one and she loves it. You just lay the silverware down instead of having a basket that takes up a quarter of the bottom rack space.

Another vote for the dish drawers here!

We had a Viking DW in one house - didn't like it. We replaced 2 KAs (hated them - found them to be loud with racks that rusted way too quickly) in two different houses with higher end Boschs - we loved those.

However we realized too late in our current home that a 1/2 to 3/4 inch counter top height difference can have a huge impact. We had a Bosch delivered and ready for install and found that it was about 1/2 and inch too tall. I was so upset! I seriously mourned my Bosch.

Our only good option was the FP dish drawers (they were just a bit shorter). 2 years in, I absolutely love them. For just the two of us, they are great. I seriously probably would not go back. The FP is a bit louder but it has not been an issue in our open plan. I love the flexibility. And the FPs were cheaper!

My Bosch is five years old and I've been happy with it. I have the third upper cutlery rack and I really like this feature. We considered a Miele because my DB and SIL were happy with theirs, but it was double the cost at the time and the remodel had already cost more than anticipated due to plumbing issues.

We did have an issue for a bit with a bad odor after cleaning that has been discussed on the Kitchen forum but it hasn't been an issue since we switched to Oxyclean DW detergent. And it may not be an issue at all anymore. It is quiet as is the Miele. Check the Kitchen forum too for perhaps more current info on the latest models.

I have a Kitchen Aid that is probably 4-5 years old and I really love it. It's quiet, it gets things super clean, etc. I wanted to get a Bosch because of the high recommendations for them, but even though I could get one delivered here, there are no factory service people available in our area, so I couldn't take a chance.

hate my Kenmore. nothing gets clean and the plastic is cracking on the control panel. it's quiet though. I bought it because consumer reports rated it highly.

something to definitely look for is nylon racks. if you get the vinyl covered one like you have now they rust out. the nylon racks stay perfect forever.

I've had 2 bosch and 1 miele. Both are very quiet (I may have heard Bosch is a little quieter?), but I personally preferred my Miele. I worship the cutlery rack!

We also had a Kitchen Aid dishwasher that bit the dust at 10 years. It had the third rack. I have been very disappointed in my KA appliances. We have had issues with our refrigerator and our KA hood vent. Of course, they no longer make replacement parts for it.

All of our appliances are KA in black and I did not want another Kitchen Aid. We went with a Bosch in black and LOVE it! It has the hidden controls and upper rack for silverware. It is extremely quiet.

Laura: nylon racks? I had no idea! I will definitely be asking about those on Saturday when we start shopping for dishwashers. Thanks!

Another recommendation for a Bosch. I have one that is about 3 years old, it has the 3rd rack. We LOVE it! It will clean just about anything off our plates, pots or pans-- including dried on parmesan cheese, eggs, etc. It's so quiet that we hardly know it's running. The 3rd rack is very handy for small prep bowls, spatulas, etc.

It was a bit spendy--but worth every penny. I'd buy another in a heartbeat!

Timely post Lynn, we just bought a new w/d and the dishwasher is next. I doubt you'd be considering them but I'll say it anyway, our Maytag has only done marginally well but the design of the racks is horrible. We bought one with every bell and whistle offered and I hated it from the get go because none of our dishes fit into it. Tried several styles and still nothing. Finally had to settle on Ikea flat plates because that's all that would work. I think mechanically, it's probably done better than most as it's 11 years old and we've never had to have it serviced, but it's louder now than it used to be and the racks are rusted through....you know how harsh Michigan water can be....

Here is a list of the Bosch in black.

http://www.bosch-home.com/us/products/dishwashers/built-in-dishwashers/all-dishwashers.html#filter=Black~1385429,nxmmin~499,nxmmax~1299

We went with the one below.

24" Bar Handle Dishwasher
800 Series- Black
SHX68T56UC

Edited to say it is Thermador, not Bosch. So quiet you don't realize it's on. Plastics don't get fully dry. I leave them in the drain sink before I put them away.

We have LG with the hidden controls. Although it isn't rated that great in Consumer Reports, we have had no problems with it for at least 5 years. It is extremely quiet, and the first time we ran it we had the washer or dryer going and we had to check that it was actually running.

I see new models have the third rack.

As Sarah said, if you decide to go with the Bosch, make sure it will fit! We replaced an Asko (loved it) with a Bosch (love it better), but the installer had a very tough time getting it into the hole. They are a little larger than most other dishwashers.

Both the Asko and the Bosch are extremely quiet.

I have a Bosch - came wiht this house. I have no idea how old it is. It is super quiet. it never dries things :( I am sure it is a bottom of the line. I keep looking for some secret button that takes off econo mode or something and blasts things with heat so the dishes will dry.

I LOVE dishdrawers. My DH does not. I think because in the last house - the second time we got them, they were never quite exactly level or something and there was always water in the bottom drawer. It is also not great for doing really big things. I would get them again in a heart beat though.

LOL, Boop! Good luck finding that secret button!

The quietest DW on the market is the top of the line Bosch or Thermador. The Miele are quiet -- just not quite as quiet by ratings. I have an older Thermador that runs quietly enough (46 db) that people have opened it without realizing it was running. The new Bosch is quieter (41?). I have a panel, so you press the start button with the door open. You can hear it turn on (something is happening, not noisy) and as you close the door, the pump pushes out any old water. After that, the next thing you hear may be the beep to tell you the cycle is done. Our kitchen is completely open to the breakfast room and family room (one long room -- like a bowling alley). Our family lives in that one room, so quiet was a big deal for us too.

But quiet wouldn't mean much if it didn't work well. I have been very happy with the cleaning of both DWs. They both clean better than any DW I've had. The both dry about as well as any DW I've had (will leave a puddle in a glass or cup with a significant dip in the bottom or around the rims of certain plastic pieces), but we use the sanitize option to boost drying on nearly all loads. Use of a rinse agent is recommended and I understand that some folks who don't may not be as happy with their results -- especially for drying.

Miele and the drawers have their followings too. I can just tell you I don't regret our decisions, and even though it is just DH and me most of the year, we run both DWs and aren't even thinking about switching one out to a drawer or some other use.

I would suggest trying to get somewhat familiar with the models before you go shopping. It can get confusing. Miele has fewer models, but even there, it will help if you have an idea of the differences. Bosch has (IMHO) too many models and they all have these string of seemingly random character moodel numbers -- and no dealer will have them all. I went and looked at Best Buy to figure out what the differences between various featuers were and then had to apply that to a chart to figure out what models had the features I wanted and came with a panel. I wound up with a Benchmark 800 series -- and I had to drive across town to a showroom to find them. Exactly one place in town to view the Benchmark.

Hope you find one you will love.

Lynn, I'm really surprised to read about your KitchenAid dw. I'm sure you're not going to get another so I won't try to talk you into it, but, I LOVE mine and every day think to myself (or out loud) how it is without a doubt the best appliance I've owned in my 36 years of being a housewife. I use the 3rd rack for silverware and it cleans the items in the 3rd rack as perfectly as the other two racks. I removed the large silverware basket and have tons more room for a casserole dish/9x13 pan or other large items. I went to buy a Bosch but took some of my dishes and pans. Some of them wouldn't fit. I was surprised at the small interior. Came home and did more research and bought the KA. It was 10 years old in July of 06. Uber quiet. 45db. The new model comparable to mine has a db rating of 41. I hope you find a dw you love as much as I love mine :)

Absolutely love my new Kitchenaide dishwasher and would get it again in a heartbeat. I have replaced the dishwasher in every house I owned with top of the line Kitchenaides it is a pleasure to have them. My current one is so quiet I can be standing right beside it and have to look at the light to know it's running.

Miele. The lower range model with a cutlery rack would be my recommendation. Easy to install yourself.

Bosch. We had a lemon for a Kitchenaid Architect series. It died an early death. We have a Thermador in a second home that I do like. I like that it shines a red light on the floor when it's running, but I hate the silverware basket.

I may just have a lemon with this current KitchenAid. I don't know, but I can tell you that the rusting has been extremely significant, and the repairs so far, very costly. But, it is so quiet that I have to put my ear to the door in order to see if it's on. I do love my KA French Door refrigerator with the freezer drawer at the bottom and no outside ice dispenser. No problems with that, other than the freezer drawer getting ice build up and clogging the drainage hole at the bottom occasionally. We also have a KA double wall oven, which is doing well still, with some recent repairs. This is year ten for all of them, and I am hoping the rest hold out for several more years!

I love my Bosch. It has been reliable, cleans well and is very quiet. I don't get the concept of dishwasher drawers. Once you open the front of a regular dishwasher, the racks slide out like drawers and give you complete access, at least mine does, so isn't it the same? Admittedly, you have to swing open the front, but I just give mine a push up with my toe and then close it, no big deal. I do have to bend over to put the gel pac in, but that is hardly a chore.

You're lucky with the wall ovens. We have 2 and the first time I ran the self clean it blew the thermostat. It's a known problem that Kitchenaid refuses to acknowledge.

Cathi, I do have a KitchenAid Architect wall oven and a microwave. Years ago (before the current oven), a repairman recommended to us to not use the self-cleaning feature because it was detrimental to the ovens. The installer of our current wall oven recommended the same thing. He added that that is one of the major reasons that ovens die too soon. Therefore, I no longer use the self-cleaning feature.

I think the idea with the drawers is that you have two separate smaller dishwashers that can be run independently with small loads, different cycles, etc. When we remodeled our kitchen they were very popular. I opted not to get one because it just seemed like more complexity and opportunity for breakdown and failure.

FYI - our Bosch fit perfectly into the space vacated by an old Whirlpool. Possibly in the scenario above the space was fit to a smaller Asko. I know when we got a MIele in our last house the KD designed the DW space to fit a non-European replacement which is slightly wider (or at least they were ten years ago).

I have used the self-cleaning on my KA double ovens multiple times with absolutely no issues. I always wait until after the turkey-cooking, though, just in case. Ha.

I've used mine probably twice a year for the past 10 years, too, Cyn. No problems whatsoever . . . thank goodness!

Low end Bosch, does a great job even cleaning even days old dried on food.

To comment on the KitchenAid we had one at my last house that we loved. We were very happy when we our new home came with what appeared to be the same exact same dishwasher. However, this one does not work nearly as well as the other one. Both houses have soft water and the dishwashers are the same model, purchased with a year of each other. The one we have now is slightly newer. Very strange.