Miele G 5210 SCU Active Plus

Even though the interior of this machine is very slightly smaller than my previous 17 year old Miele dishwasher and I also had to get an extra holder for wine glasses for the bottom section, the machine washes absolutely immaculately. I got it in late January this year and I have not had one dish or saucepan come out that has been perfectly clean and it is so much quicker than my old Miele. I absolutely love it and I love the way the door automatically opens for extra drying of the dishes overnight.

A great dishwasher – This was bought to replace a problematic Bosch ActiveWater dishwasher, so any comparisons are relevant to that dishwasher. Installation: I installed the Bosch when we bought it and also installed the new replacement Miele. The Miele is far more involved to install- with more fasteners fixing it to the surrounding cabinetry and also a slight problem discovered- Miele use a 21mm drain hose. The Bosch used 19mm, as did the Westinghouse that was fitted prior to it. The drain inlet on the under sink plumbing also works with 19mm - so 21mm is a problem. Just fixing it onto the fittings using a hose clamp results in leaks, finding a 21mm to 19mm adapter proved harder than expected to find. Why Miele don't stick to the somewhat standardised 19mm size is beyond me. So just be warned if you're installing it yourself.

Miele also supply a "cut to fit" lower plastic "kick board" for the lower front of the dishwasher. So be prepared with a jigsaw (or similar) to cut that to the correct height for your installation.

There's also a "cut to fit" plastic sheet to fit under the lip of your bench top. This is due to the Miele having a drying function that opens the door ajar as the final drying step. So the plastic sheet is to stop the humid hot steam from damaging the underside of your bench top.

Build quality: Given the Bosch was 12yo, the Miele is a few generations newer and somewhat lighter feeling in the door build and the feel when opening/ closing it. Apart from feeling a bit more "flimsy" , there's nothing that stands out as being a possible future issue.

Operation: The Miele is a bit quieter- not that the Bosch was by any means loud.

Where the biggest difference is, is in the tray loading. I can fit more into the Miele and the cutlery drawer is mile ahead as far as being easy to load, fitting more cutlery in and also keeping it separated to give a decent wash. With the Bosch cutlery drawer I always the cutlery leaning over onto the next piece and of course that will affect the cleaning process. The Miele drawer simply works better and there's rarely an issue with the cutlery leaning on the next piece.

The lower two drawers are also laid out differently to the Bosch and somewhat better as far as fitting more dishes in.

As far as dish drying goes, the Bosch was shocking and the Miele (with the auto door opening feature) miles better. The only items not dried in the Miele are the cups- which may get water pooled on the top. Everything else is dry. It just does the job so much better. The Bosch would leave wet dishes everywhere.

We bought the Miele when there was a discount and extended 5yr warranty for free. Just after that they brought out an extended 10yr warranty for free. So if you're not in a rush to buy, keep an eye out for discount offers.