Drying issues with Euro DW: All three do not dry plastics nearly as well as American DWs. It does not matter how much drying agent you put in the DWs. If you think about it, the water that collects in the divets of dishes actually pools there and has no chance of draining out. For that you need a well designed rack so that it is tilted as much as possible to help drain the water. This is where well designed racks make a huge difference with drying issue! In this, Bosch is the worst. In my household, Bosch also fits the least amount of our dishes. The glad plastic el-cheapo containers have a large divet where it collects water when you turn it upside down. I have used all three Euro DWs. For me, Miele is the hands down best, then my old Asko, then Bosch for rack design. Ineteresting enough, Miele has not changed their rack layout in many years. Whereas, Bosch and Asko tend to change them every few years. To me, the newer middle cutlery tray Asko looks rather odd and looks as if you can't really fit large dishes in there. I have NOT used it, however. My old Asko actually had a heating element at the bottom and it dried plastics fine with the element BUT I had to make sure plastic was NOT at the bottom rack. We decided not to use the heating element to dry, which was an option on the Asko. So when you compare the drying of all three without using the heating element on the Asko, they are all about the same, IMHO... I am not sure if the newer Askos have heating elements at the bottom like my old one did. Any how, if you want all your plastics to dry in the DW, I would skip the Euro ones. On the other hand, your plastics will last much longer in the Euro DWs. When I left the Asko heating element on, I often found that a plastic had fallen down and melted... This was one of the reasons I decided not to use the heating element.

Like Heather, I, too, was surprised to find smaller price differentials between the two brands. I happened to be shopping for a replacement DW a couple of months ago. This was just as Bosch and Miele were releasing their updated model lines. I mention this because (at least, in my area), there have been deals offered on warehouse stock and floor models which may be worth considering, particularly if you are interested in a Miele. For your question about potential differences in the quality of the interiors of the two brands' models, I would say that Bosch models I saw all had nylon racks and parts much as the Miele models did. Miele's racks are designed to provide loading flexibility with few movable tines, etc. The new Bosch models' racks seemed to be a bit lighter in construction and seemed to have even more moving parts than they used to have. Because of that, I second homepro's recommendation to take some of your dishes and etc. down to a showroom (or showrooms). See how your things fit and whether you like or dislike the loading patterns for the models you are considering. Like 3katz4m3, I found I slightly preferred the Bosch models' layout. But that is very much personal preference so YMMV. You mentioned that your 8 y.o Bosch had developed leaks and asked if the latest Bosch models are more durable than your old one. That seems hard to judge. My original bottom-of-the-line Bosch DW lasted from the 1990s to 2011 with the only work being replacement of a worn latching release spring for the detergent dispenser. I bought a new DW when the control panel burned out and replacements were no longer available. The new DW was a Bosch 500 series model. It developed cracks in the plastic pump and sump housings this March just after the five year warranty ran out. The parts assemblies seemed very expensive and the replacement process seemed (to me) onerous enough to make me look at a new DW. I can say that, to my eye when shopping back in March, the new Bosch models did look better to work on than the ones from five to eight years ago. Whether that makes them more durable is hard to say. Miele DWs have a longstanding reputation for being built like tanks and there is the company's vaunted mantra of "designed for a 20 year useful life" or "7500 cycles." That is an admirable yet aspirational expectation; Miele's extended warranty is only five years. (Canadians can sometimes get 10 year extended warranties from Miele.) Some posters here have had Miele dishwashers last for a long time, but some have not. An additional consideration from previous threads on Miele DWs is that you probably will not need service, but if you do need service, you want to be sure that Miele factory service is readily available where you live as opposed to dealer coverage which may not be as good. One small thing of possible note: if you want a smudge resistant stainless steel finish on the exterior, Miele DWs had it and the Bosch ones did not, at least when I was shopping in March. On cleaning performance, I cannot speak directly to the abilities of the current Benchmark and 800 series because I bought one of the new 300 series models. What I can say is that the new 3-rack 300 series model takes about 15% longer to run a full cycle than its 500-series predecessor did, but does an excellent job. One difference between the machines is what Bosch calls a "Clean 30" cycle. So far, for me, the new DW's "Clean 30" cycle (which I now use frequently) has worked as well as the standard long cycles on its predecessor. ETA: Although the cycle is called "Clean 30," the timer display always shows it taking 38 to 40 minutes on my unit. I suspect you would see the same with the new Benchmark and 800 series models. As best I could tell when shopping, the higher level Bosch models offered those and additional cycle choices, additional rack flexibility, and, as Heather noted, there were a couple of the more expensive models that also offer built-in water softeners. Before starting out on my shopping trip, I had read some older posts here saying that Miele offered an automatic water softening system. Don't know if they still do that but the Miele model I saw when shopping (a "Crystal") required testing water hardness and programming the water softener much as the Bosch ones do. If memory serves, the price of that Miele was less than the Bosch Benchmark with the water softener (at least on that day). It also offered the end-of-cycle auto-door-opening feature which enhances final drying. I passed on it mainly because the cost was over my planned budget and our town's water is not all that hard. And a final FWIW : even the new Bosch 300 series models are rated at 44 dBA for quietness. Some of the Benchmark models are even less. The low-to mid range Miele models that I looked at were rated at 46 dBA as was my previous Bosch 500 model. The 2 dBA difference seems negligible to me.

We have had the BSHX878ZD5N dishwasher for 2 years. It mostly dries the dishes all of the way. Sometimes, water remains on the tops of coffee mugs. I learned a trick to open the dishwasher, after the heating cycle has completed, and put a terry cloth dish towel on the top rack and close the washer with it hanging part way out. This collects any remaining moisture. It works!!! We have been pleased enough with the dishwasher, although I think it could do a better job of cleaning. I rinse dishes before putting them in the washer, and my DH scrubs dishes. They can still come out with some spots that are not cleaned. Especially some dried-on food! It may be that our water is not hot enough during the start cycle. Takes a while for hot water to get to our kitchen. My favorite thing about the dishwasher is the silverware rack. Love lining up the forks, spoons, and knives. After cleaning, I can gather a whole row of like silverware and put directly into the drawer. No sorting!!!

Nick - what do you use the floor light for? To know that it is running? To know when it is done? If you get a miele model that pops the door open then you know when it is finished. It does have a red light on the top left that is somewhat visible while running but you do need to bend down to really see it. I decided on the Miele due to the auto open drying system as it was the best system on the market 5 years ago. I also preferred the Miele racking system particularly their 3rd rack. It cleans well - both Bosch and Miele do - I have used both fairly extensively. My daughter just bought a bosch 800 series with the crystal dry abd my way rack. She took her cutlery and bowls to a showroom and determined that her cutlery didn’t fit well in either bosch 3rd rack configuration. Her bowls that she uses a lot of fit in the my way rack so that was the direction she went. She took out the my way cutlery insert and uses the baskets. I suggest you do something similar with the Miele and Bosch and see if loading your dishes helps make a determination of which way to go. Both are excellent machines - I don’t think you can go wrong.