We're living in a rental right now during our remodel. When the dishwasher went out, the owner bought a Bosch. I'm completely sold on how quiet it is and the size is adequate, but I'm very disappointed with the tine configuration. It's clearly set up to accommodate dishes in a particular way and it's difficult to put dishes in any other way. The other thing I don't like is that the utensil caddy is in the very back of the lower tier and there are no options for placing it elsewhere. I like being able to open the door only a little and drop in a piece of silverware. It's not possible with this particular machine. (Sorry, don't have the model number at hand.)

I had a new Bosch for 6 months and I hated it. I could not fit dishes well. When my rental house DW died, I gave them my new high end Bosch because I did not like the tine configuration. I hope the above poster is not my tenant;)

I now have a Miele. I had Asko beforfe. They both fit way more than the Bosch.

Euro DW do not dry plastics well. All brands, IMHO. (I have had them all). If dry plastics are important to you, you should get KA. However, with the Euro DW, you don't have melted plastics on the bottom rack either.

I bought the Bosch SHX65 (top of the 500 line) and then returned it and replaced it with a KitchenAid. The Bosch cleaned the dishes, but the filter assembly just seemed to trap grease and as a result, caused nasty odors. I also hated the racking system. The tines are too close together and even with thin Corelle dishes, it was frustrating to load. Finally, despite using the required Jet-Dry, the dishes were always cold and damp, and needed to be air-dried.

The KitchenAid isn't perfect either, but a lot more user friendly. If capacity is a concern, I'd absolutely go KitchenAid and I'd recommend upgrading to a model with a silverware tray. That tray allows you to remove the silverware basket and use the space for pots/dishes. It really makes a huge difference. The KitchenAid racking is much better, though still not as good as Miele. And I love having the option for heated dry--turn it on if I want everything nicely warm and dry, turn it off to save electricity or if I want to put plastic on the bottom rack.

KitchenAid dishwashers are 1.5" deeper than Bosch, so make sure you have enough space.

Our Kitchen Aidjust died -- thirty 36 years -- will be buying another. Looked at Bosch, I realized that the only selling point was "quietness" who cares how quite it is if it doesn't dry your dishes and plastic properly?

I've got a KA DW that's the model just under the TOL. Although it's a decent appliance, KA is NOT what it was 36 yrs ago, I assure you. I'm on my third soap dispenser unit in less than two years - this one works, but it sure is a cheap crappy piece of plastic for $43.

I'll take the other side -- I love Bosch DWs. I've had three in different ones in three different homes and am about to install my fourth. Each has worked amazingly well -- things dry fine (aside from some water around the edges of plastic). Definitely not a deal breaker and barely noticeable. You do need to adjust the machine for your water hardness, but it has never taken me more than a load or two to get it right.

I don't notice the tine placement that others seem to complain about. But that may be because I've used Bosch for so long at this point. I have normal sized dishes

Bosch are quiet, energy efficient, and work horses. We use ours daily and never had an issue. I am currently remodeling my kitchen and dropping in a Integra 500 with no qualms about it. The GE Profile that was the house when we bought it had a heated dry system that left the dishes wetter than any Bosch I've ever seen. WIth the Bosch, which uses condensation drying, you need to use JetDry -- but never have to worry about where you place your plastics. For us, with a toddler in the house, this makes it very easy to keep up on all of the bottles, kid plates, and sippy cups.

Good luck with whichever way you go. They are both top rated machines ...

I, too, have a Bosch DW and am very happy with it. I bought it because it was top-rated in Consumer Reports and is extremely energy efficient. It is also very, very quiet, though that was not really a factor in my decision. I don't have trouble loading it and I don't find not having heated drying a problem at all. I do use JetDry in it, as that seemed to be definitely recommended.

Used to have a Bosch and really liked it. Quiet, cleaned well, energy efficient. Recently bought a top of the line KA and hated it. Didn't clean well, was noisy(er), racks seemed flimsy, and it was too deep for the space because we were putting a custom panel on the front. Replaced it with a Miele which is far and above the best of the three in all regards. I am constantly amazed at how well it cleans and dries.

Please read the following with the one caveat, that I have only had the dishwasher installed for under 6 months.

I used to have cheap dishwashers when I was young and in my starter home. Then I jumped onto the Miele bandwagon as I got older, more established and a higher income. If you don't buy a Miele anything else is a compromise. That is Miele's slogan, and I have to agree with them.

That being said, with my current house I ended up "compromising" with a Bosch as I got a deal I simply could not refuse. I am quite happy with it. The Miele is built like a brick (and as heavy as a large brick too) I can see that the Bosch's build quality is not as good as Miele(nothing is), but I do think (IMO) the build quality is better than KitchenAid.

As for tines and all that, I suppose it all depends on your personal requirements but there has not been anything yet that I can not fit into my Bosch. As far as quality of cleaning goes, it is excellent. With a whole house water softener (we have hard water here) and using jetdry my glass's come out as if they were hand polished, you can hold them up to the light and not see a spec of residue (just like in my Miele's). It is however possible to have a peice of rice or something left on a dish if you put your dishes in the dishwasher without scraping first ( I think this is probably because of a lack of a built-in food grinder).

As for the dishwasher smell some have reported, I have not yet experienced that. I know the dishwasher has been installed correctly, as I did the install. It does not share a drain with the kitchen sink, it has its own drain.

Although I have a different KA model (KUDE70FXSS), I will say that the only dissapointment was finding out that it takes 3-4 hours to clean the dishes (water efficiency). Since I do use it mostly before going to bed, it is not a problem. It does have a 1hr function. I am not sure if I would have changed my mind, but I would have like to know this - this was not disclosed in any literature/marketing material that I read.

Due to re-flooring of my kitchen, my 11 yr. old KA would not fit back into its space, so I bought the smaller, ADA-compliant Bosch that would fit. While I miss the rack configuration variations of the KA, I have to admit that I am falling in love with the Bosch. I can put plastics in without worrying about them melting - important when my 5 grandchildren visit ;-) Best yet, they come out DRY. I would gladly have paid more for a more versatile rack system, but am learning to adjust. It also uses less water, so I tend to run it more frequently and hand wash less.

Please - it would be so helpful if people would include their model number and not just the brand name for this discussion becuase with the new standards - that is very important.

Last month I purchased a KitchenAid top of the line DW model KUDE70FXSS. Even though I took my dishes in ot the showroom I was not happy with it. It was designed poorly as was every other model in the KA line I saw this year. The bottom rack hit's the front door as it is pulled open and the plates which are designed to face either left or right always roll out of place. The cup rack does not have enough support for the cups and the rack pulls out a little rough. So unless I am extremely careful cups clang and then fall over. I find this extremely frustrating. I do however love the top utensil rack. But the reason that I turned it back in today for a Bosch is that my dishes came out dirty!!! I used every possible feature to get them clean. I also would not have minded that things do not come out dry IF I HAD BEEN WARNED, becuase my kitchen shears and metal whips came out rusted the next morning since there was still just enough water to not dry them all the way. If I were to keep this model I would set an alarm and remove all metal immediately to sink dry or towel dry them. ALSO the SS grabs and holds stains more that my LG Fridge, so be prepared for that.

I then compared the ASKO - becuase the deal was pushing this on me since they said of the 3 it was the only one which would dry my utensils. But I saw two reviews that ranked Miele #1 and Bosch #2 and ASKO either #4 or last.

I wanted to get the Miele, but I just did not like the design of the racks. Not enough support for glasses. So I went with the Bosch, which positively grabbed hold of the glasses. I also liked that loading the bottom rack the dishes were in different angles and would not roll forward and back. So I picked the SHE55PO because it had the SANITIZE feature in addition to the Sanidry - which I am told will help with the drying.
For the difference between some loving the Bosch and some hating it - this feature may be the reason. The model I selected is a mid-range model. This is the best IMHO and also that of the two reputable appliance repair shops that I called. One owner said it was what he had and that should speak for itself.
I believe the reason I had such problems with my KA is the same reason that the repair shops owners said to stay away from top of the line DW in any line. Because they are competing to be quiet, use less water and for this reason wash less well and do not dry. The power is taken from the heating time as well as the disposals.
If I had more time I would have looked for a model with a disposal. I think it is really crazy to be giving up cleaning and drying poser of a DW for just a gallon of water or a few KW of electricity. I would save much more $$ and water if I could just teach my DH to turn off the water when he is just standing there brushing his teeth. But he is an "older" model and that's not going to happen.
I attached the JD POWERS ratings which I used.

Here is a link that might be useful: JD POWER Appliance Ratings

Sorry, good point about the model #. I was on my netbook instead of my desktop and didn't have the model # of my KA DW (the one with the chintzy plastic soap dispenser).

It's KA KUDS30IVSS. I like everything else about it - nice flexible loading (I have many supersized pots, plates, and bowls), washing takes 1 hr 15 min reg, 1 hr 30 min heavy duty, the Pro Scrub option is awesome, use the Sani-rinse all the time, and although it's gotten a little louder over the last year (it was purchased 2009) it's still okay, nothing outrageous.

But construction? The Miele wins, hands-down. I just couldn't fit in the sample stuff I brought along. In some instances I was only able to fit in three or four large items and literally, nothing else. Just wouldn't work for me.

I currently have a top ofthe line 3yr old kitchen aid DW. ITs a piece of crap! The recirculation pump went out right after the warranty ran out in the first year, and now again it is once again making noise and it doesnt wash well. The pump assembly is over 200 bucks, thank god I can put it in myself or the repair would be more. This will be the last time I fix it. Already started to investigate Meile and asko's

jkom, I've been planning on getting a KA dishwasher from a local warehouse that sells them at a discount (returns, overstocks, etc). They currently have the exact model that you have - it wasn't one of the ones that I'd initially been looking at so I didn't know anything about it. Aside from the soap dispenser, you are very happy with it? When you say it's gotten noisier, how bad? I want a reasonably quiet DW b/c our kitchen is open to our family room and occasionally we turn it on while we are trying to watch TV. I don't mind some noise, but not to the point where it's distracting. We currently have a 15 y/o Kenmore that's really loud, so I guess anything will be better! :) But any thoughts you can provide on yours are most helpful!

fourkids4us, aside from the soap dispenser issue - which was an irritation just as much from a recalcitant A&E repairman refusing to do anything but the pushbutton test - I'm very pleased with the DW. I run it at least 6x/week. My previous 1989 Kenmore/GE was terrible - lasted forever but couldn't clean anything! So I know what you mean about noise, boy those old DWs sounded like they were grinding glass and washing cars all the time, LOL.

I have noted before in a full review I did shortly after we bought it (may have scrolled into Oblivion by now) that the original installer asked if I bought an extended warranty on it. When I said yes, he told me it was a good idea because at around the three year mark, the pumps, as gates1 noted, sometimes die. Under an extended warranty that cost is covered completely.

He said we could tell because the dishes would start to come out dirty and the problem would get worse. Said it doesn't always fail, but he'd seen enough of them to know it was a known problem. Whirlpool is not really a quality-conscious company; they are the "GM of appliances".

It has gotten maybe 20% noisier, but since it was pretty quiet to begin with, that's not a problem. You can be in the kitchen and it doesn't disrupt conversation.

The biggest issue is the removal of all phosphates from DW detergents. You may need to fiddle around with brands before you find one that works well with your machine.

jkom, thanks for the information. I'll search for your review and see if I can find it. I had to laugh at your comment about the GE/Kenmore DW you had. Ours is from 1996 and while it has never broken or needed a repair and seems to be a workhorse, it just doesn't get things very clean anymore.

Interesting about the extended warranty - we rarely have bought them though we did recently with our fridge since it was an expensive purchase. I'm much more inclined these days to buy one on an expensive purchase simply b/c newer things tend to break more quickly it seems. Knock on wood...

fourkids, I did keep a copy of the review I posted because threads were scrolling off really fast. It was dated Nov 19, 2009. If you can't find it, email me through GW and I'll send it to you off-line.

I have a KitchenAid DW that also got louder over time. We had it checked by the repairman and he said that a glass must have broken during a cycle and glass pieces worked their way into the motor. Unfortunately had to replace the motor. I guess it's a design flaw...no filter to catch debris before getting into the motor. It ran quietly again after that...

The noise I noticed that has gotten a bit louder since buying the KA is the food grinder. Since it's only on for a few seconds, it's noticeable but not continuous.

That was one of the few good things about my old Kenmore/GE. It had a double filter that worked extremely well.

Oops....Yes 1957pinkharley is right. Model numbers are very important. My Bosch is a SHV65******.

We have had a KA DW for 8 years now. Model KUDSQ1KKSS0 (Superba model, not top of the line, but up there). We were never super happy with it.

Early on it didn't clean well and I noticed that several of the holes in the sprayer arm were clogged with food particles. Turned out the grinder motor had died. Extended warranty covered it. A while back the pump also died. I was able to replace that myself at least.

The top shelf also seems flimsy on the slides. It often would lean forward and roll out by itself when the door was open. It always wobbled on its slides. We also have problems with glasses coming out with grit quite often. And the four corners we don't load, since we always have issues there. Heavy wash cycle usually does a better job, and I try to use the sanitize cycle at least once a week. Been using the Finish tabs for the last four or five years.

I generally use the energy saving dry cycle, which doesn't leave the dishes that dry, but I just let them air dry and it doesn't bother me. I'm surprised that drying is a big issue for many people.

Last time when it stopped working, maybe eighteen months ago, had a repairman out to replace the circuit board. He said he does a lot of repairs on kitchenaid dishwashers. It is always the grinder motor, the pump, and then the door springs (which he replaced while he was here). I was suprised to hear that--even though I had experienced issues with mine, I had mostly read good experiences from others. (But I do have a 2002 model).

A couple of months ago, the plastic parts on the top rack broke. These are the pieces that hold the rack up and adjust it from the lower height to the upper height. So I'm in the market for a new DW--I'm holding my upper rack together with tie wraps for now. I'm looking at the Bosch or Miele for now. I guess 8 1/2 years is pretty good for this dishwasher. New ones will be more efficient. Just want to get one that works well.

I have a KA DW purchased in 2002, model KUDS01DLSS and it's still doing fine. It cleans as well today as it did when I got it. The only minor problem I've had is that the gasket around the door came loose in one spot but it was easily repaired with some silicone. It may be slightly louder now than when I first got it, but I'm still very pleased with it. I tend to run it 2 or 3 times a week.

We switched our DW mid-renovation b/c we wanted a panel front to sit flush with our cabinets and KA only makes ones that would have protruded 2" beyond the cabinet face. Switched to a Bosch SHV65P03UC as it had gotten good reviews. The filter rinsing is a non-issue. We've had it 1 month, I've rinsed it once (not much in it) and it took 30 seconds. The tines are only an issue currently while we have younger kids who use these thick bowl/plate hybrids but when we are all on reg dinner plates, they fit fine and the capacity is quite good. With drying agent I haven't had a problem with the dryness of the dishes. And it is VERY quiet.

We are still using our ca. 2002 KA KitchenAid KUDS01DLSS. I've had to replace the chopper blade and do a dissassembly deep-clean but other than that it has been quiet and reliable for 19 years. I do run white vinegar through it every six months or so. The stainless steel finish looks as good as new. I think if you didn't get an assembly lemon with issues in first couple of years this model really lasts. Will replace with a Miele when it finally dies, but until then it is going back into remodeled kitchen.