Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
cottonpenny_gw

bosch 500 series

cottonpenny
11 years ago

I don't know why I'm struggling with the dishwasher decision so much...

I was going to go KA, but since others commented on my other thread that the filter thing is no big deal, plus I want panel ready and apparently only Bosch can be fully flush, I'm now thinking of going with Bosch. I really want a quiet one.

46 dB, energy star, light on floor when running (totally unnecessary but cool) and countdown timer.

800 series is $200 more but only a gain of 2 dB and some extra options that I'd likely not use.

Am I missing anything?

Comments (21)

  • tyguy
    11 years ago

    Cottonpenny: I think that investigating the 500 series bosch is a fabulous idea. In my opinion it is the best bang for the buck dw one can buy. I stepped down from a miele to a bosch 500 as I found a deal when I was not looking that I could not pass up. For the price I thought I could not lose and if I could not live with the downgrade from miele I would just sell it and buy a miele. I have been pleasantly surprised. The dishes come out so clean (with water softener) that the glasses look like they have not only been hand washed, but hand buffed dry. There is not a single spot on them. As I said in your last post I have not rinsed a dish in 10 years.

    It is amazingly quiet, the red light shining on the floor is not a gimmick I actually use it often to see if the unit is running. I do somewhat miss the 3rd rack of the miele but not as much as I thought I would. The unit is well built, not as good as the miele but in my opinion better than ka.

    The panel sits completly flush with standard depth cabinets. I will try to post pics later if you are interested? And for capacity I find that although the unit has slightly smaller dimensions than a ka it holds more standard dishes because the tines are closer and for the bigger non standard stuff I just place it where it fits. Sometimes I will stack dishes on top of dishes and literally make a mountain of dishes in there, and everything comes out clean. Again, I can post some pics if you wish?

  • cottonpenny
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Tyguy - thanks! I'd love to see pics if it's not too much trouble!

    My only concern, and I may have to make a trip to check this out myself, is our pasta bowls fitting in the narrow tines.

  • tyguy
    11 years ago

    Cotton: So sorry for the long delay. I hope these pictures do not come too late. I had a crazy busy weekend. I apologize in advance for the lack of optical quality.

    Here you will see the custom panel with fake drawers to match the banks of drawers that flank both sides of the dw. (I only had a pic of the left set of drawers but there is an identical set to the right of the dw as well)

    Here is a pic of I guess I will say how it is "intended" on being loaded. That is a cookie sheet on thbe left most saide of that rack. Notice the room it has to wash a cookie sheet or cutting board etc.

    This is probably NOT how it is intended on being loaded, but everything comes out perfectly clean. you can see the one pasta bowl I have leaning up against the pot towards the right side of the rack. You bowls may fit there but they tend to angle like that one, but I find that it can usually be propped up with another item. Or they may fit in the wider spaced tines where you see my bowls located to the left (beside cookie sheet)

  • MichelleDT
    11 years ago

    Wow - I can't wait to have a dishwasher I can load like that - dirty dishes that don't require scrubbing before they hit the dishwasher. I am looking at Bosch and Miele and leaning toward the Bosch right now as I will have two of them.

    Can you really load it like that? No pre rinsing or cleaning?

    M

  • mojavean
    11 years ago

    Yes, they will all come out perfectly clean. I have that dishwasher and mine would have zero problems with that load or worse.

  • jscout
    11 years ago

    My DW is the same series and the dishes always come out clean without any pre-rinsing. The only thing it doesn't do well with is plastic containers. They're clean, but not dry. So those get handwashed. Plastic plates, like kids plates, are fine.

  • tyguy
    11 years ago

    Michelle: still on your appliance safari? :)

    Yes you most certainly can load like that and not pre rinse. My water is softened as close to zero grains that a water softener will do. I also usually use "auto plus" which I believe is similar to "pots and pans" on many other units.

    I've owned miele and bosch. I can not really see a difference in its cleaning performance. The miele had more room on bottom rack due to the 3rd rack. The miele is also better built. The build quality difference is not so apparent when the units are installed, it is more of the "behind the scenes" stuff where the miele is on top of the food chain. The bosch still appears good tho.

  • nerdyshopper
    11 years ago

    I thougt the concensus at this forum was that one should invest in the 800 PLus series because Bosch had reliability problems with the dishwashers made in the USA and reopened production at a special plant in Germany where they attemped to make a more reliable machine the 800 plus). That line has a lot of other features that made me think I wanted the SX7 (I believe) which was the lowst cost panen 800 plus line. It has a water softener built in, a third shelf, and some of the tines are adjustable and it is substantially quieter. I'd say if you could get one for anly $200 more than a 500 line that is what I would sping for. Just me though.

  • cottonpenny
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    tyguy - thanks! oh, that picture of the dishes all piled up has me sold.

    thanks jscout and mojavean too!

    nerdyshopper - the 800 line is different than the 800 plus...the 800 plus is a lot more if I recall...like over $500 more...we don't need the water softener cause our city water isn't hard, and though I've never had a third rack it doens't look like I'd like it. If I was going to spend that money I'd get a Miele prob...Bosch 500 series is

  • nerdyshopper
    11 years ago

    The last time I checked the SHV7ER53UC was $1136 including shipping online from Warehouse Discount Center. Just Google the model number and see what drops out for you.

  • 2LittleFishies
    11 years ago

    i'm buying the SHV7ER53UC (lower 800+ model) for $949.00.

  • nerdyshopper
    11 years ago

    2LittleFishies,
    Wow. What a low price. Do you mind telling us where you got it.

  • dodge59
    11 years ago

    Google SHV7ER53UC lowest price.
    Best I've found, (so far) is $1029 but I'm just not the
    Swimmer, that 2lf's is.

    Course, you may not "sink or swim" over the $80 price difference?

    Gary

  • 2LittleFishies
    11 years ago

    Well, I've found that after the appliance stores calling me weekly to see if I'm "ready to order" that they seem really desperate for sales. This gave me the courage to basically give them my list and tell them what I wanted to pay for each item.
    Without blinking, the guy (from reputable store) said "I can do that".
    If figured what's the worst that can happen? They say no.

    OTOH, I ordered my plumbing fixers from same store (different salesperson) and I did need to email her any online prices for her to match. (The appliance guy didn't request this, which is good b/c my prices were lower than what I could find online for the most part). Amazing that on plumbing fixtures I saved about $1400 from what they were originally going to sell them to me for -- oh, supposedly that was builder pricing- yeh, right! My Kohler sink they quoted me $750 builders pricing. Online I found it for $505 at ONE store online plus $60 shipping. The store sold it to me for $505 and didn't even make me take into account that if I bought online I'd have to pay an extra $60 for shipping. This happened on about 7 or 8 items.

    Bottom line, you may not be as lucky but I think the stores are really wanting to sell product and would rather sell it at a lower price if they aren't losing money than not get a sale at all! The sales people actually THANKED me for giving them the chance to match and not just buying online! The plus is that if I have any issues now I have a very reputable store my GC is used to dealing with and I don't have to be shipping sinks, etc back if they are damaged.

    Good luck!

  • tyguy
    11 years ago

    2littlefishies: you played that game well!! Congrats on the savings.

    As for the bosch 500 dw. As much as I think through personal experience that the 500 series is good bang for the buck, if there was only a couple hundred difference between that and a made in germany unit it would be a no brainer.

  • cottonpenny
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    2fishies - I wish I had your luck! My plumbing store quoted me some ridiculous prices...I wanted a Franke Beach sink which is $$$. The list price is like $1600 or something. Plumbing store said that the builder's discount was $1250. I ended up getting it from faucetdirect price matched through th 110% price guarantee from AJMadison for $925. When I told her I could buy it for $925 she first said she wouldn't price match and I should be glad for the service they were providing in making sure the sinks were at the site when needed. Then after I said I would order online anyway she said she could come down...to $1175.

    So obviously, my $925 (free shipping, no tax) sink is in the mail. But I can't do that on every $20 more they are charging me per faucet valve, etc. I think that's the most annoying thing about my build so far - my builder's suppliers don't negotiate or match prices from online. So even if I'm careful to stay on budget, then I go to buy the stuff from his suppliers and I'm over.

  • nerdyshopper
    11 years ago

    cottonpenny,
    You have it backward. The 800 line is an old one and the 800 plus is the latest upscale version Go the the Bosch site and you will see the lines listed there.

  • cottonpenny
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Oh, you're right! I got a quote for 800 Plus for $1009 which is just $110 above the 500 series. So I guess I'm getting that. Hope I don't hate that 3rd rack!

  • 2LittleFishies
    11 years ago

    On their site there are 2 800+ models, the 7ER and the 9ER? What's the difference? Cottonpenny, which are you referring to for 1009?

  • cottonpenny
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    that's for the 7ER...the difference as far as I can tell is a quick wash setting and a load size sensor in the 9 ER. And I guess it's 3 dB quieter...

  • nerdyshopper
    11 years ago

    Some of the tines flip down on the 800 plus series. More do this on the upscale models in the line--the higher the more. There was a vidio link a while back that had demonstrations. There has to be some reason for them to be as much as 500 dollars more. I once printed the descriptions of each model from the Bosch official site. I think beside being quieter, the top of the line has a full red LED Text display. The bottom 7 model has only 5 cycles. One thing I like about not having a load sensor is that I don't have a computer trying to save water by restricting water based on its load sensors.