Nice product and is advertised.

N.B. there is no way to tell about the long term reliability of these as they are very new to the market from a new factory. It has a warranty like all other built-ins and is backed by one of the best networks. If you want a "safe" choice better get a Sub Zero. If other things matter to you then the BSH offerings + Miele have some nice attributes.

If I had your situation (budget, needs) I would go for Miele because the firm is so customer-centric, in my experience. Sub Z seems to have been more riding on its reputation rather than "trying harder". That's my sense of the two, in the last few years.

Does anyone have a general impression on if Miele has better (or worse) customer service than the brands with the very similar fridges? (Bosch, Thermador, and Gaggenau)

Chipster, I chose Miele over SubZero because I just liked the units better for my exact installation. I don't know how long your forever is. SZ from 20+ years ago are still going strong. They have new models out now, which have different, fancier internal systems, so who knows on those. Miele have been selling refrigeration in Europe for a long time, though I think it may be rebadged something else. They put in a lot of R&D for the current U.S. models, and have a good reputation for standing behind their products. And I just liked them better. Mine aren't installed yet, however. They've only been available out here since August. I figure everything is a gamble. You could get the best one on the market and still get the one lemon in bushels and hogsheads of apples.

Fori, It depends to some extent on your local agents. Gaggenau, the firm, isn't all that helpful or responsive and their manuals are beautifully, but very densely written. They need to be decoded, almost. But their L.A. area local service people are fabulous and friendly, and the distributor has a lovely showroom where they have classes and demonstrations, and are also very helpful.

Miele has their own showrooms, where they also have lessons, demos, etc., and knowledgeable and helpful staff. The corporate entity has a great reputation for service and responsiveness to consumers, and their manuals are more step by step with good illustrations.

If you're not near any showrooms, that part doesn't matter, however, and it's down to your appliance dealer and the service techs where you are. It might be worth interviewing them.

We initially installed GE monogram all fridge freezer units. Needless to say (and if you need to know details you can find them on the forums or email me for details) these units needed to be replaced within a very short space of time. Our only choices as the kitchen was custom built to fit the specs of the GE units, were to go with new GE models (no way no how), Miele or Sub Zero.

Our experience with Miele had been fantastic so we went with those. The fridge and freezer are everything we anticipated. We had one installation issue. Both the fridge and freezer were shown in the specs with a 90 degree door. While this is true for the fridge, it is NOT true for the freezer due to the extra insulation in the door. We could not open the door far enough to allow the draws to open unhindered. Miele was great and authorized a replacement freezer for one with the hinges on the oppposite side. I believe they have changed their spec sheets on the freezer as well - or at least I hope they have. The original misleading photograph is still on their website.

Some things I have discovered as we live with these models

They really are shallow BUT you can get a LOT in them. If you have a large platter too big for the shelves, it will probably fit in the drawer. (I've stacked them in the draw using glasses between "layers" and it's worked fine.) The blessing of a shallow fridge and freezer is that it is impossible to lose food in the back. We also switched to glass storage so we can easily see what's in the fridge. Where we used to throw out lots of food that we had no idea what it was, we are now finding that there is often "nothing to eat" or at least that's what my kids tell me :)

As previously mentioned, the door shelves are shallow. You can fit a half gallon in the door but not a gallon.

Because the compressor is at the bottom, the top shelf can be rather high. We're all tall so it doesn't matter so much but if you're short...

Another advantage of the bottom compressor is that if you plan to panel the fridge, it is one panel. Ours is so integrated most people think it's a pantry and not a fridge at all. The freezer in the butlers pantry is the same sleek and streamlined look.

Also as mentioned, the ice maker is TINY. We haven't had the freezer over a summer so not sure how that will pan out but we have needed to purchase ice for parties.

Both the fridge and freezer have full extension drawers. This makes it so easy to sort and store produce and to find them. We've dedicated one draw for fruit, another for veggies and the smaller drawer in the fridge is for deli.

Our freezer is now organized with each section in the drawers holding different frozen goods. I also found some Rubbermaid plastic containers that fit on the shelves with no wasted space and improve the "holding" capacity. I can fit a lot in those open containers and it doesn't fall out when you open the door. If I was organized enough, I could plan it out and put ice into one to collect for parties :)

Food lasts longer without a doubt. I have some rhubarb that I just used today to make cupcakes. It was still crisp and fresh and had been in the drawer for at least two weeks. I notice celery lasts longer too.

Both the fridge and the freezer hook up to your computer network through wireless technology. Ha you might say but last week when I was out of town, dh grabbed something from the freezer on his way out the door and it didn't close properly. He was on the train when he got an email saying the temp in the freezer had dropped and the alarm had gone off. He called a neighbor who came into our house and closed the freezer properly for him. That probably saved us a $1000 right there!

I am not sure how long they will last but past experience with Miele has been positive. We reinstalled our Miele DW from our old kitchen that is almost 10 yrs old. Our previous Miele DW was 20 yrs old and could have been fixed and gone another 5 years but we chose to replace it. Our second Dw is also Miele as are our DO. Wasn't planned that way but that's what we ended up with. After going with cheaper (and never let anyone tell you GE is cheap) and having products not last a year, we're hoping these are our forever fridge and freezer.

They're pretty expensive but we hope they are worth it. So far so good.

"Does anyone have a general impression on if Miele has better (or worse) customer service than the brands with the very similar fridges? (Bosch, Thermador, and Gaggenau)"

I'll do you better - I have experience with all.

It's not even close: Miele is better by a long shot.

Loves2cook4six,

Re platters, they showed me at the Miele showroom that you can move the top drawer up like a shelf and use the space underneath as a shelf for platters. Pretty cool, and no maneuvering into the drawer!

NO KIDDING!!!!! I am off to try that right now! Thank you!!

Dang it. Not on mine. I was all excited and went to check it out. My deli draw is screwed into the side wall and the glass shelf above it rests on supports inserted into the side wall as well. Must be a newer model although mine isn't even a few months old yet.

my deli drawer doesn't move either. Loves@cook - Is your unit quiet? Ours has a loud noise periodically that miele says is not normal but they haven't been able to determine what is causing it yet.

Definitely quiet. We never hear either unit.

BTW, just to clarify, we have seperate all fridge and all freezer units.

Ugh Oh!! I'm so sorry to have misled you!! Such a cool feature, but I'm guessing that the showroom model is the older one. Specifically, it was the 30" all fridge.

Okay, I'm looking at the picture and trying to remember. It might be the shelf above the drawer that went up, and then the drawer followed. I wish I could remember if he took out the drawer first and just can't. But it left that white part where the indicators are to be the platter shelf.

Maybe they decided that putting stuff on that was screwing it up so added the screws?

Dang.

We have 36" units - maybe it's different on the 30" ones.

In the past year we've bought a Miele washer, dryer, dishwasher, and K1801 refrigerator. The fridge hasn't worked properly since we got it three months ago. The ice maker didn't work, so they replaced it, but the replacement didn't fix the problem. Also, when we open the door there's a loud buzzing noise like an alarm, and the lights flash intermittently.

Presumably these problems can be solved, and most people shouldn't expect to have them. The real problem is the service. Miele seems to have poor inventory of spare parts in North America, and in three service calls they've never had what we need. They have to send to Europe for parts, which can take two weeks to arrive. Add in the time to schedule installation and you can expect to be without your appliance for a long time.

I wasn't expecting to need service so soon, and most people don't, but if you plan to own your fridge for 10 years I'd plan on being without it for a couple of months in that time. Fortunately we have a second fridge and can manage, but if we were to pick only one fridge Miele wouldn't be it.

Hi. I have a sub zero. I have had about three service calls with my Sub Zero. After the warranty for full coverage (pats and labor) expired, it had a problem. SZ covered the part and labor. At that time, the repair noticed a defect in the interior of the freezer… a hairline crack. SZ offered to replace it with a new one with a new warranty for $2k. They are so nice and helpful. I like the older model (~10 years old better. It didn’t have the soft close which reduces interior space and the door alarm is too quiet and you can’t really hear it). The new one has had issues with dripping because my house is humid. Out of full warranty they put in a fan at no cost to me. I think SZ has problems, but their customer service goes way out of their way to satisfy.
I’m looking for another refrigerator for the new kitchen. I, too, don’t know if I should choose SZ or Miele. My Miele oven and DW work great. My gaggeneau ceramic cooktop only half works and I’m still not sure how to use it! The part that’s broken is no longer available. Bummer. Hope this helps!