I'd pick a 5000 series and spend even less. So not much help.

I was going to do that, but my local appliance store is giving me a deal on the G7156 model, so it's only $100 more than the 5000 series I was looking at.

I would also check out the basket design and flexibility, and the sound levels because they might not be the same.

@Julie K, thank you for the examples!

What's been your experience with the Clean Machine cycle? Do you think a heavy duty or sanitize cycle would do the same or similar?

Have you used the Grates and Filters cycle yet? If so, did it work well?

As for Autodos, I'm sure it works amazingly as Miele makes really great detergents. I'm just not a fan of the excessive plastic waste it generates. Kind of like a Keurig for dishwashers. I have read some reddit posts of people refilling these with their own detergents. Though, at that point it's much easier to just load detergent at the start of each cycle.

@Jerrod, the DBs are just 1 difference and all are below 44 db which I believe is the standard for silent operation. The racking in both models are the same.

Q. What's been your experience with the Clean Machine cycle? Do you think a heavy duty or sanitize cycle would do the same or similar?

A. I run the Clean Machine cycle monthly, either with the Miele d/w conditioner or Dishwasher Magic. We still cook and eat almost all our meals at home so I run our machine almost daily and occasionally I've had to run it twice on heavy meal prep days!

Q. I Have you used the Grates and Filters cycle yet? If so, did it work well?

A. I've never had the need to run a Grates/Filters cycle, so I've never used that particular cycle.

Regarding Autodos and other consumables, I've kept a record each time I've replaced the Autodos and/or used additional products (i.e., Miele d/w conditioner, scaler, Dishwasher Magic, rinse-aid, salt, etc.). I typically need to replace my Autodos every 21 -24 days but we're heavy d/w users.

I've never tried to refill my Autodos. I think regular d/w tablets might work just as well, but I love the ability to run my d/w without thinking about how much soap and other additives are needed for the optimum wash.

My life is complicated enough so it's nice to just set it and forget it!! ;-)

p.s. - The pic I posted show exactly how the dish went into our d/w and how the dish came out after placing it in the bottom rack and running the Quick Wash + Intense cycle which takes just over an hour to complete.

I just want to add to this as I was looking at these 2022 Miele dishwasher discussions before ordering our 7566 about a month ago that the auto-dos is really great - I didn’t think we’d use it but we use it exclusively. However the cartridges run out very fast, but there is an easy hack to refill it by creating a little hole in the side so you add your own powered detergent, tape it shut and not waste so much plastic. You just need a little funnel. You can Google it to see a video. Even the user manual says “don’t refill with liquid detergent” which I took to mean “it’s ok to refill with powered detergent”, but maybe that’s wishful thinking. Anyway, it’s not so much about the price and hassle of getting the auto dos refills, it’s about the waste of plastic that concerned me. Just thought I’d leave this here in case anyone has the same concern!

@queen e are you still happy with your 7566? I'm considering getting one. either that or the Bosch SHXM88Z75N (which I know is cheaper) , but I really like the look of the Miele baskets. Seems like you could load a lot more in there...

We love it. No regrets. We have Bosch dws at other places (work and rental) and they are nice but I like the Miele baskets more in terms of volume and adaptability. Pro-tip: don’t accidentally turn off Auto Dos. We did that for about a week and everything came out cloudy. I panicked and thought our machine was failing us then I noticed the AutoDos button was off. Oops.