Yup, you need rinse aid. Put some Jet Dry in the rinse aid dispenser and you'll be fine. Bosch, Miele, and some models of American made DWs don't have heated dry and require rinse aid.

I looked at the instruction manual and it seems that the final rinse temp varies. Today you do need to use rinse aid to achieve good drying results as there is no exposed element in the dishwasher. I would personally use the auto wash program as it has a higher final rinse temp. You can also activate intensive drying in the menu.
Hope this helps

I hope rinse aid is the the only issue. Even without rinse aid my bosch dries all of my dishes perfectly (except for plastics or concave surfaces where pools of water collect). I'm hoping there are no problems with your water temp.

Thanks everyone....I will try Jet Dry on Auto and see what happens...if that doesn't work, I'll look at the water temp....

I had similar issues when I first got my Bosch. We have the Bosch SHX58E15UC and I'm quite happy with it. I've run had it since last May (replacing a Kitchenaid KUDE60 that vented in to my cabinetry) and have had absolutely no issues. It cleans wonderfully, it is quiet, and even though it is technically smaller than the KUDE60 I had, I have had no issues fitting anything. I have Fiestaware and it fits beautifully.

One thing I recommend is reading your manual thoroughly. I apparently do not need to add salt, as my water isn't hard enough (according to the test strip supplied with the unit). Also, most of the variables (water softener, jet dry, intensive drying) are factory set to "OFF". One important one is "INTENSIVE DRYING". This helps with drying, and I had turned it on last night for the second load and it definitely helped. Here are the instructions supplied with my machine if anyone needs them. Your machine may vary, but check the manual.

Intensive drying
The final rinse uses a higher temperature which improves the drying result.
The running time may increase slightly. (Caution if utensils are delicate!)
? Open the door. (for hidden controls only). Turn unit on using the ON/OFF button.
Hold down "A" button and press START the digital display shows "H:00".
? Release both buttons.
? Press button "A" until the display indicates "d:00"
To change the setting,
? Press button "C" (see page 4) to turn intensive drying ON = d:01 or OFF = d:00
? Press START button. The set value is saved.
? Close the door (for hidden controls only).

we have that exact model. as has been noted above, it is good to make sure you have the softener set up properly to handle your water. (ours too turned out to not be hard enough to require it, so we have left it off for now)

with our relatively soft water (about 4 grains/gal), a jet dry setting of 1 or 2 works very well.

i found the best drying occurs if you crack the dishwasher open once it's done cleaning to let the steam escape. not necessary, but that gives the best drying. i find that only plastics or concave surfaces have issues of being wet in general. (we have yet to use the intensive drying feature)

finally, be sure to check what the temp of your hot water is. our is at 125 which is about what Bosch recommends if i recall correctly.

Hi, Joanie. We, too, have the same dishwasher, but have had no problems with dishes being dry. A couple of thoughts.

1. I'm not sure that Jet Dry is critical to getting dishes dry. It's primary function, as I understand it, is to prevent streaking and spots. But more importantly, our dishwasher dries dishes just fine without Jet Dry. Let me explain.

We went through a time when our cycle lengths suddenly jumped by about 30 minutes. Then we noticed that the "add drying agent" light was on. When we added it, the cycle times went back to normal. In the interim, though, the dishes dried just fine. (We're not sure what happened during those extra minutes. We did notice that the DW seemed to just "sit there" for the last 20 minutes or so.)

2. Someone, I think it was Plllog, posted a while back about not being a good candidate for European dishwashers because of not having a critical mass of metal and glass items in the dishwasher. These dishwashers rely evaporation, using the heat from the last rinse water. Glass and metal items retain heat from the last rinse; plastic items don't. So one potential explanation might come from the mix of items being washed.

On the other hand, it just might be the unfortunate case that something is not right with the specific unit that was delivered to you. Can you get your seller to send someone out to check it out?

Rinse aid does help with drying ... it deals with spots/streaking by reducing surface tensions of the water so the remaining moisture "spreads out" over the dishware suface (and interior of the machine's tub) and runs down/off instead of pooling into drops ... which also is how it increases drying performance.

Finish has a "turbo" rinse/drying aid that really works great for the euro style no added heat dry systems and / or plastic tub dishwashers.

I used the "turbo" version for a while in my DishDrawer. Dunno what exactly is different about the formulation (it is a thicker fluid) but it does make for better drying of plastics.

Indeed, the "normal" cycle does not necessarily get the dishes dry. The "normal" cycle is for getting the Energy Star rating and having good stats for comparisons. The only cycle on my Monogram that dries everything in my not good for convection dry loads that Kashmi referred to, is Plastics, Added Heat, Heated Dry. I don't know what the difference between Plastics and the other cycles is, exactly. It's supposed to have a different pattern of washing and drying or something. The plastics do dry with it, as does everything else. They don't on other cycles, at all.

It's metal and crockery you need to hold the heat for Euro drying. Glass is kind of neutral. Doesn't hurt, but doesn't help. Heavier ceramic or stoneware dishes which have more mass than my porcelain are better too, and if you have a heavy pot or two that will help.

You do need the Jet Dry to break the surface tension of the water. It's a surfactant, that is, a soap. The "sheeting action" they advertise. Without it, water can mound in thick superdrops that cling to the sides of the glasses, etc. By breaking the surface tension, the water falls down instead of mounding, and also doesn't cling as well, so there aren't drops to be evaporated, just wet. Theoretically, you don't need the liquid rinse aid if you're using tablets or packets. Those are supposed to have it built in. That might not be enough, however.

There also seems to be a certain amount of wear in time for dishwashers. Mine dries a lot better now than it did when it was new. I don't know why this is, because I haven't changed anything. That's why I think it's a wear in thing. There may be some benefit of some kind of residue or something. Or it could be an illusion. I'm not sure on that part.

Just installed a Bosch SHE55.. and it does a pretty good job of drying. The plastic items are not always perfectly dry, but anything that holds heat does OK. There was a plastic sign tie wrapped into the dishwasher that says:

"For up to 45% dryer dishes:
1. Always use Rinse Aid
2. Use Auto Cycle
3. Press Sanitize button"

So far we have only done the first two and have not used the Sanitize button.

We just installed a Bosch SGE63E1 and drying is really a mixed bag - the non-plastic items always seem to be perfectly dry (except for the very tops of cups/glasses right after the cycle finishes) but the plastic items are almost always fairly damp to quite dewy. I have the "enhanced drying" set on (for higher water temps during rinse IIRC), and rinse-aid set quite low. Thanks to the built-in softener everything is coming out absolutely clean and spotless. But the wet plastic is a bit perplexing.