I've had 2 Mieles. Both had china & crystal as I have a lot of old dishes and good crystal. I use it for lighter (dishes only) loads as well. I couldn't do without it but if your DW doesn't need it, she doesn't need it. That seems to be the primary difference.

If the DW has the water softener and you have soft water, the softener needs to be disabled, which customer care helps you do over the phone. But I'd double-check on the water to be sure before going with a model without the softener.

The rest is nothing critical on a day to day basis IMO. For me, Turbo was a non-sequitur and I wouldn't pay extra for it. Both come with Express, which is the short cycle I used a lot.

One thing I have had and really like is the integrated door and do feel that style looks best. I prefer a cabinet panel on the dishwasher though I've had both panel and stainless. I don't care for the model with controls on the front, though some do.

Silverware tray is another essential for me, which you've got covered.

Also I'd check to see if they still offer a 2 year waranty for installation by a certified Miele installer.

Ask about cold/hot water hookup. If you go with china/crystal I'd say hook it up to cold water since that rinse is 115 and most water heaters are set above that.

I never went with maintenance agreement but I've been lucky. My present machine is 9 and has never had a service call. I wish the same for you.

We also have two Miele's, one Classic and one Dimension and they are paneled.
Both operate beautifully -- the Dimension having additional specific wash cycles and adjustable racks, including adjustable flatware tray as you mentioned.
We tend to use the Dimension for china/glassware/crystal more and the Classic for larger items, but on occasion used the Classic as well for more delicate items and it's fine. Good luck on your purchase, you will not be disappointed with any Miele dishwasher you choose.

Thanks rococogurl, I'll recheck the hardness.
I used a kit from Lowes, I'll get another from the pet store to double check. Thanks for mentioning the cold water supply I knew the Miele wanted a cold water connection and I thought was entirely an energy conservation measure. We done have some crystal that we have in the past washed by hand. After my wife does thanksgiving dinner I end up doing cleanup. She is usually pretty tired by that point.

Thanks clarygrace, That's good to hear about the Classic.

Larry

I am pretty sure that the Crystal does not have the adjustable cutlery tray but rather has the standard one. We have a Miele with the cutlery tray now but in the remodel we are getting the Dimension in order to get the adjustable cutlery tray. The difference is that you can put larger utensils in the adjustable one. My DH put a soup ladle in the regular cutlery tray and broke off the top spray arm. I want the ability to deepen the tray for larger items.

I am pretty sure that the Crystal does not have the adjustable cutlery tray but rather has the standard one. We have a Miele with the cutlery tray now but in the remodel we are getting the Dimension in order to get the adjustable cutlery tray. The difference is that you can put larger utensils in the adjustable one. My DH put a soup ladle in the regular cutlery tray and broke off the top spray arm. I want the ability to deepen the tray for larger items.

I rechecked the hardness, it's 50ppm which is about 3 grains.
The owner's manual says that if your tap water hardness is above (4 gr/gal [US]), the water should be softened.

I think I'll ask that specific question.

nycbluedevil thanks for posting that about the soup label being too big for the non adjustable tray. Thanks for saying it twice. It's just the sort of thing I would do !!!

for me, the difference in price is about $300 between the crystal and the classic in the panel-ready integrated models. i am still trying to decide if i want to save the money or go with the crystal. the big difference for me is the water softener.. my area has hard water, so i think i might regret not getting the one with a water softener. but it sounds like you might not need that feature at all. to me, the other features don't seem that significant to merit the price increase.

michoumonster,

You will use less detergent with the water softener.

I like some of the extra features, I'd be paying $200 more and I'd have to do a little bit of plumbing if I wanted to use the glass feature in the Crystal.

$200 would could go toward installation or longer warranty.
I don't feel a very strong need for either.

The Classic mush have a lot less complexity than the diamond, for instance.

It's a wash between the Classic and the Crystal for me.

How hard is your water ?

If my water was harder I'd be getting the Classic.

Larry

lawlopez and others-if you don't mind, could you tell me if a standard 24" depth and base height of 35" plus 1 to 1 1/2" (counter) space accepts either the panel ready Miele Classic or Crystal?

Pardon me if this has been asked before, yet I have some urgency as my old SS Kitchen-Aid DW is soon to go and I hope to buy a Miele DW as replacement but well before cabinets are chosen regrettably. Of course I will review all specs, but wonder if any of you are/have replaced non-paneled 24" under counter DW interchangeably with a Miele panel-ready? Mine will remain at the end run with possibly second UC DW in pantry. Thank you very much.

Hey, I found a couple of threads. I've link a size one below and also read a couple of experts advise on GW about European and American DW and size of machine.

Here's one: Is my 24' DW opening too large for a Bosch or Miele?

Maybe it will help.

Here is a link that might be useful: 24

It turns out that the Crystal was $100 more than we expected.

Then after we paid for it, it turned out you couldn't just buy the cutlery tray you had to switch a version that needed the panel which then boosted the price considerable.

So we canceled the order.

Then we found they billed the card and the money stayed in suspense for almost 2 weeks.
This was $1424.

Sigh.

So far the Miele Classic with the cutlery tray in black makes the most sense. We almost had a La Perla for $1695 but it was in stainless.

Just for the record I'm doing most of the dishes by hand.
Since I pulled the dishwasher (and wired up a socket) we had no draining racks the VDW got me a draining rack !
It's curious I'm starting to wonder why we need a dishwasher.

I only wonder about the latch on the Classic.
One I saw wouldn't close another was hard to close.

Still, it seems like it's adjustable.

Larry

By the way, DH might mean Dear Husband.
I don't mind that at all.

But DW never means Dear Wife it means dish washer.

I got a little confused because I just learned what DH meant last week.

It's a strange world.