In February we were making a decision about the AG ranges and were looking at American, Bluestar and Wolf. We did tons of research and looked and looked. At that time I was also thinking I wanted a color range rather than stainless, so that narrowed it down to Bluestar and American. We decided the American was a better value than the Bluestar and were ready to order until we did a final measurement and discovered that the extra depth of the Performer would not work in our particular configuration because a drawer on an adjacent wall wouldn't open. So, much as we would have liked it, that eliminated that possibility. Then, we found an AG Wolf floor model on clearance (one of the old models with the open burner) and bought that. I like it, but personally I wouldn't want the burners on the new model Wolf. And, there have been a couple times (maybe only 3 or 4) when I thought to myself I would have liked to have one of the more powerful burners from the Performer. In your shoes, I'd save the money and get the Performer. This doesn't mean I don't like the Wolf; it just means that I don't think it is worth the extra money now, especially considering the fact it has sealed burners.

I was subscribed to this thread as years ago I really really wanted and planned to get the Miele range when it was new and was looking for feedback. I love my Miele d/w, washer/dryer, vacuums, we've been a Miele household for almost 20 years now. (we have moved and replaced everything over this period except the dryer...moved it with us and it's still running!) But in the end we didn't get the range, as we were over budget with the new house, and also worried about the clicking burners on Miele range--previous house we had separate Miele gas cooktop and oven, and loved the oven but never loved the ignition on the cooktop. We got a 48 inch Thermador range with the steam oven and are really really happy with it. It has some things that Miele would never put up with --the oven timer beeping is so annoyingly loud, oven fan's fairly loud, Miele would never approve LOL. And come to find out that the panel for the warming drawer that you push on/off is attached with double sided tape. TAPE, people! ACK. Miele would never do that. However, guess what, the burners work much better, and we use our rangetop burners A LOT, so that is important. No click click click. Ever. They just work very very well. Miele has never gotten their ignitors right don't know why. Seems like they have some of the same problems we had on our gas cooktop 15 years ago. Anyhow, we love the steam oven, use it all the time, not as top of line as Miele steam oven, but we still love it, same with basically every aspect of the range. ( Love the griddle, too, was really unsure about that part.)Time will tell about longevity--that is one thing I love about Miele and one major reason why I wanted them over Thermador. But thought I'd throw this in to the mix for Miele lovers-- we are a Miele household and have actually survived and thrived with a nonMiele range this past 3 years. LOL I'll let you know whether I'm still happy in 5 more years....

Purchased a 30" DCS gas range by Fisher Paykel in March, 2009 and had to replace all Venturi valves in Feb, 2014. In May 2015 we are get sputtering flames. Factory authorized repairman said the Venturi are locked up, not due to anything we did. We're disgusted to have $1,000 in repair bills due to a mfg design problem. Has anyone else experienced this?

I would agree a 48" range is overkill for the vast majority of people, but it's nice to have overkill. Same as you can drive a Honda or a Porsche to work, having done both I can attest that the Honda is plenty sufficient but the Porsche is more enjoyable for sure. While often parroted here, I'm not sure where the "ventilation costs as much as the range" comes from. It's not a trivial expense, but as long as you are on an exterior wall you can vent through it shouldn't be THAT expensive. My setup (including mua), which works just fine, was not anywhere close to that. Regardless, I think a nice combo is a 36" range like Bluestar RNB in a color/hardware combo of your choice paired with a stacked Miele steam and speed oven (or a little cheaper, a MW drawer) would be nice and cost about the same as the Thermador steam range. If you think a 48" range is better, given the description of how/why you cook, you'll be happy with Thermador and the steam oven makes it worth it.