Miele G 5815 SCi XXL

Never had in issue in nearly 12 years – It was expensive $3100 when I bought this Miele dishwasher (G5818 sci xxl-integrated). I have been fortunate enough to have had “all” Miele products in my homes for 35 years. IMO. Unless you look after these machines/appliances, and read the manual completely, and do exactly as specified. Most of the time they will last up to 20 years in my experience. Eg: 2 years ago I replaced my Miele combo washer/dryer, i Spent $400 on a new heating coil in the 19 years I had it- it was a “workhorse” and now with the lastest model - just brilliant.

Not built to last – 2nd major failure in as many years. Was advised to not to repair it and to get a new one. Seems like whitegoods are designed to fail within 10 years. I was hoping Miele might be an exception to this bit it seems not to be so. Works fine when it is not broken.

best available dishwasher on market. (i have no affiliation with any dishwasher brand or company) – we have had this dishwasher for 2 years now. it is excellent. recommended over asko D5894FIXXL. we think worth the extra money over the cheaper miele's (due to the rack design allowing more to fit in, rather than the bells and whistles). pro's: + exceptionally quiet. (seems quieter than our friends' bosch which has similar (maybe better?) db rating i think; also the pump/valves on the miele are a heck of a lot quieter than the asko D5894FIXXL Fully integrated dishwasher - so much so that we replaced the brand new asko with this miele, so that we weren't woken at night by the asko pump)

+ cleans amazingly well. we don't pre-rinse. cleans just about everything using finish quantum, but won't get through burnt-on debris on base of saucepans (but has a reasonable crack at it!). The asko cleaned about as well as the miele. smeg dishwashers seem to be quite poor relative to both the miele and asko for noise and cleaning. bosch (can't remember the model) was better than smeg, but not as good as miele or asko.

+ can fit a lot in. both my parents and parents in law have cheaper mieles. the rack arrangement in this dishwasher is better than in the cheaper miele's, and we can fit more in this dishwasher than the lower models. The asko 3 level dishwasher could fit taller items in the bottom rack than the miele and also had a pretty good layout (however the 3rd level was better in theory than in practice, so i wouldn't get too excited about this)

+ the door popping open does seem to dry stuff better than any other dishwasher. doesn't get plastic perfectly dry, but still best that i have seen

+ if you have a baby, the hygiene mode is good for cleaning baby bottles, dummies etc.

+ these dishwashers with a front digital panel don't look as nice as fully integrated dishwashers. having now owned both types, i would always buy this sort, because the value of being able to see how much time is left/ if the spray arm is blocked etc without having to open the door outweighs the slightly slicker look of the fully integrated dishwasher.

con's:

- very expensive initial purchase

- miele service costs are outrageous if you ever need them (build quality pretty good though).

- the light is a gimmick. but it makes your friends go ooh aah. my wife likes it - but never unpacks the dishwasher... :) (kidding, sort of)

- i initially thought the plastic spray arm was a negative in the miele cf the asko. however on reflection - the plastic spray arm won't break things (e.g. vases) if it hits them, can't rust and should in theory be cheap to replace. so i think this is not a negative in hindsight

other notes

- in the last 4 years we have had 6 dishwashers installed into various south australian houses. the 'mr dishwasher' installation people did an appalling job at one site into a high end kitchen (miele dishwasher installed crooked, no hole saw used to cut through side wall of cupboard - just roughly hacked out with a chisel, one part of the dishwasher bent during installation). hilariously bad at trying to solve any 'dispute'. so maybe consider an alternative supplier if you don't want to do the installation.

Delighted with it – We were tossing up between this and a Bosch and we understood that the difference was that the Bosch didn't dry properly and you couldn't open the Miele mid-cycle. We opted for the Miele on the basis that not being able to open the unit mid-cycle would be annoying, but the lesser of two evils. As it turns out, you can open the Miele mid-cycle and we often do it several times a load.

The machine itself is capacious, seemingly able to take 50% more pots and plates than the machine that came with our home, a Westinghouse.

The cutlery tray is ingenious and allows you to get knives and forks and wooden spoons etc out of the way of the plates, safely stored and able to drip dry without staining.

The machine has a brilliant light (similar to that in our Miele washing machine) that is quite helpful for seeing what you are doing.

It is quiet when operating. You can comfortably turn the machine on and continue to have a conversation in the kitchen. Previously, we had to wait until people had gone home before turning the machine on.

The wash is effective. I've not yet taken out anything from the machine only to find that it hasn't been washed properly.

It comes with a blank front that allows you to integrate the machine with the rest of the kitchen.

Altogether, we are delighted with this machine. Quiet, efficient and clever design Expensive, but it gets used twice or more a day in our house, so over the course of its intended life we figure it should pay for itself