The one thing I've found about customer reviews online, especially for high-ticket items like appliances, is that the negative tends to outweigh the positive with almost all of them. And it makes sense--if you really love your dishwasher, you're likely not going to spend the time writing out a review to convince others to buy it, but if you hate it, you're going to write the review and post it EVERYWHERE. Writing a negative review is a form of catharsis--it makes people feel better to vent. You don't get the same thing with writing a positive review.

Caveat: I don't have my Bosch installed yet (soon, though). I noticed the same issue with reviewers, but people here seemed to love the Bosch and the Miele dishwashers, so I took that advice along with CR and got the Bosch.

I've had a Bosch (Evolution 500 Series) for about a year and a half, and I LOVE it. SOOOO quiet, and gets the dishes clean. This is all most people want from a dishwasher, so why is it so hard to produce such a machine? (I've had problems with other brands in the past.)

I had a Bosch dishwasher in my previous home for 13 years with no issues. I put a Bosch in my current house 10 years ago and recently gave it to a friend when I installed a new panel ready Bosch in my new kitchen. So for 23 years of owning Bosch dishwashers I've had 100% positive experiences.

I've had good experiences too. I had one in a previous house. I currently have a 500 series and just bought another on clearance with an additional rebate for the summer/eventual retirement house. The 300 series seems to get more mixed reviews compared to the 500 and especially 800. Apparently there has been some cheapening out of parts to reach the big-box market.

I'd ignore reviews that indicate that the buyers didn't know what they were buying (no food grinder, layout doesn't work), but pay attention to mechanical issues.

My first post, after being a long time lurker. I have Bosch in 2 homes, can't remember the models and I love both. Cleans dishes and is quiet, flexible racks for loading. No complaints here.

I am also a Bosch owner. Loved it my last kit and it was the one appliance I didn't give a second thought to in this kit. I did a Bosch again. The only thing I wanted different was the split silverware basket.

I love my bosch dishwasher. It was recommended by a sister
in law and I am so glad I followed her advice.

A warning. Bosch is German.

European appliances work a little differently. You might
find yourself frustrated if you don't understand how they
work. The Bosch does not have a food grinder. Some people
hate this. Bosch has a trap to catch the food pieces.
However the Bosch gets so hot that it burns up the food.
You can put sunflower seeds into the bosch and nothing
winds up in the trap. Amazing to me. I have had my Bosch
for 2 years or more I have only had to empty the trap 3 times.

Yup. However I do not put toothpicks, ribs, chicken
bones, peach pits etc.. into the dishwasher. IF you tend
to do that you might have to empty your filter more often.

There is also a steel tub that has a auto shut off so
the water will never overflow. Years ago we had a magtag
that overflowed and was a nightmare until DH reached
under the sink to stop the water.

Bosch takes a long time to wash dishes but the higher
the number (300, 500, 800) the more silent the machine.
I mean silent. Although the 800 has a party wash. If you
are someone who wants their dishes NOW you might be
frustrated that they take a good hour or 2 to wash.

Bosch is also GREEN friendly. Your dishes will sparkle and
look great but the steel tub will have some wetness on it.
In fact some dishes may have a little bit of moisture
still on them. Keep in mind you are saving the
environment. I would rather have a damp tub and save a
few trees.

Bosch recommends using jetdry

If the above issues do not bother you , you will love the
Bosch. My DH loves German cars and German engineering so
for him he calls this the BMW of dishwashers.

Good luck
~boxerpups

It's great to here good reviews here, since my web seach turned up some stinkers. I knew I could count on you GW'ers.
boxer- excellent info. I think I'll be good- I always scrape before putting dishes in, so no problems if there is no food grinder. And I don't mind a bit of dampness. In our old dishwaher, we always used the energy saving dry which always left some moisture. I'm okay with that. Saving energy is more important to us.

Just my 2 cents...

We recently bought an 800. While it works great and I love it, it does require slightly more clearance than the average dw. Not sure if all their dishwashers do, I'm assuming so.

The people that had our house before us put tile on top of the current floor, so we had a little less space. It worked for the American dishwasher we had before, but it was tight with this one.

The installer crammed it in. I wish I had stopped him, but I didn't. It ended up that the door wouldn't shut properly and our countertops were ruined.

Luckily, I'm changing them soon, so lesson learned. But, if I wasn't planning a reno, I'd be pretty furious.

The dishwasher (We've named him Gunther ;) works like a champ and I'm very happy now that the kinks have been worked out.

Six years with mine and I love it! Silent and cleans fantastic. My only problem is the stainless steel is a biatch to clean. Any owners have a solution??? Kindly appreciated!

Rocketmom,

Please know that I do not rinse my dishes before putting
them in the DW. A month ago I saw darling daughter toss
in a crusted up brownie pan that had been in her car.
She had brought brownines to cheerleading. Gawd knows
how long that pan was in her car. Can't wait for college
to start.

Anyway, it went into the dishwasher without being soaked
or scrapped and came out like new. I even put in my
Bosch oven range grates into this dw and they come out
looking perfect. I do not scrape pans unless there is
something on there I know would choke a dog. I do not baby
this dishwasher. I am hard on my applainces. Poor things.

Ayerg,
As for fit. WOW!! I realize now that of course we would
have no issue with it being too tall as our counters
were made to be taller than standard. DH and I like a
taller by an inch counter top. I wonder if others have
this issue.

~boxer

Ok, the talk of fit got me thinking so I just did a bit of research. The Bosch says 33.7/8" for height, a Miele was 32.1/6", a Kenmore 34" and a Whirlpool 34.1/2". My base cabinets are 34.1/2". It seems that the Bosch wouldn't be an issue. Our floors will go wall to wall, under the cabinets.

rocketmom - so glad to hear that. I think we were a special situation because of the floor issue, but the installer immediately told me that it was one of the tallest dishwashers out there. (Then proceeded to cram it in. UGH!)

Here's the result -

I didn't worry about it at first because I knew we'd have stone eventually. But, when it was so bad that the door wouldn't shut anymore to run, we had to call the appliance store. They immediately wanted to deflect blame and never compensated me for anything.

The entire counter is bumpy and swollen. Had to have our GC come and cut a lot of the particle board and even remove the tile under the dw to get it to fit before the appliance repairman came back and replaced some of the seals on the door. Everything was twisted from the issue. Glad it all seemed to fall back in place once we took care of it.

boxer - I researched this to death before I bought it and never found any info about this being a problem. I'm just lucky, I guess ;)

We have had the 500 series Evolution for a couple of years now and love it. It's quiet and gets things CLEAN. I use mine just like boxerpups does, only chunky stuff gets scraped off of dishes and the rest goes right into the dishwasher. I could have crusty plates or pans in it for a week and everything would come out shining.

I do recommend checking to see if the top racks will work for you. They are shorter and narrower than American DWs so I can't lay my wine glasses down or stand up my tall Tervis cups like I used to in our older DW (which was loud and didn't clean anything unless the stuff was already clean to begin with). It doesn't bother me though, the quietness and the tough work it does is why I love it.

I love ours too. It is quiet and the dishes come out clean, which is a pleasant change for us. I use the quick wash function and energy saver mode and the dishes come out just fine. I would not choose a dw just because it is quiet, but this one is spooky quiet. I have an open layout, so if it were loud, we'd be hearing it everywhere. I can be 2 feet away and not be sure it is on, while our plug in induction burner makes us turn the tv up in the den if it is on or after it is turned off and the fan is still going.
We have the black model, so I can't answer to the ss question, but the design is sleek with the buttons hidden from view.
We bought it 5 years ago and installed it almost a year ago.
The only downside is the we bought it at a scratch and dent sale and it did not have a cutlery basket, so we ordered it from Bosch. It is not generous sized, but I picked up a second one at a garage sale (non-Bosch) a few weeks after installation and that has helped. We use both baskets every time. I'd save the basket from whatever dw you are removing to add to the Bosch. The one that came with it may have been different/bigger than the one I ordered. I did not notice if there were choices when I chose ours online, so this may not be an issue for anyone else. I have never seen it mentioned by anyone else.

I have a Samsung dishwasher that I was told was made by Bosch. It certainly performs exactly as Boxerpups describes her Bosch. We are terribly hard on the dishwasher and things almost always come out sparkling clean. Every now and then seriously crusted on food won't quite wash off, but usually it does. And often when it doesn't it's because I forgot to refill the rinse aid. I use Ecover detergent tablets and Ecover rinse aid. As Boxerpups said, they work a little differently but the dishes come out incredibly clean and sanitary with very minimal (if any) rinsing. I also cram that poor dishwasher as full as absolutely possible. It's unbelievable how much I can fit into it. It is also almost entirely silent. The only time you know it's running is when it projects a red light on the floor or if you literally put your ear against it. I absolutely love this dishwasher, never have to empty the food trap, hardly rinse anything at all, and appreciate its silence. I would buy a Bosch or a Samsung again any day.

Another Bosch lover here. I only scrape off the big stuff. I can stick a spoon covered in peanut butter in there and it comes out clean. I nest bowls, overfill it -- all the no-nos, and all comes out clean. Quite as a mouse -- perfect for our open floor plan.

Another satisfied Bosch owner...TWICE! I agree with chesters_house. You have to filter out the reviews that aren't related to mechanical issues.

@hsw_sc - The top rack is height adjustable. There should be tabs on each side of the top rack that when pinched in allow the rack to slide up and down a couple of inches. Yours might be set at the higher level.

I also love my Bosch 800 series, which we have had for 4 years. Works beautifully and silent as a mouse. I had some issues with the detergent I was using, and the smell from the "clean" dishes bothered me as a bit "off." I did find others mention this as well. I switched to Method DW detergent, and the problem is gone--no more odd scents from my clean dishes.

I didn't finish reading all the responses but I'll throw in my 2 cents.

I had a Bosch and really loved it. When we were going to switch to stainless steel front (long story why we didn't just replace the panel) I noticed in the "new" Boschs the rack configuration was one I didn't like, at all.

Make sure to take some plates, bowls, glasses to the store and try it out. Hopefully it will work out great for you.

bee

Good tip bee. I am going to be ordering mine online, but I'll look at one in person somewhere first to make sure it will work for me.

jscout, I had forgotten about it. I have it in the lower position now, but won't be able to do that when the posts are in the bottom rack. No worries though, they aren't always in the DW anyway. YAY, no more handwashing wine glasses!

I just looked at a whole host of DW's at Lowe's a few minutes ago and my first impression of the Bosch from an aesthetic and functional POV is the upper rack seems smaller than my current KitchenAid. I like the functionality of the upper rack and I'm sure it would work for me. The lower rack, well... I'm not sure about the tines on that one. As has been mentioned on the Kitchens and Appliances forums before, the tines are very close together and might wreak havoc for those with thicker stoneware dishes. It seems that loading pots with dishes might be challenging too because it looks like the lower rack is a bit smaller than my current KA. The tines going in different directions is a change that may take getting used to.

Here's some pics of the upper and lower racks in one of the Bosch DW they had at Lowe's. Pics are from the side, not the front of the rack. Model SHX55R55UC/64:

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Another Bosch fan here. Had one for 10 years in my last home. It did develop an issue with the electronic controls after about 8 years...used to wash for about 2 hours. But I think it was because for years, I randomly mashed the control buttons trying to remember the combination for "cancel cycle". Current Bosch is a year and half and doing fine...also has the magic cancel combination marked on the controls!

I find the top rack works well for me, and although the tines are close together on that one front quarter of the bottom rack, it still works. I have learned to put saucers and small bread and butter plates in that section if I've got them to wash or to simply load bowls over those tines if not. The other tines are plenty far apart for my thickish Portmeiron dishes.

Another VERY satisfied owner of a 500 series Evolution -- SHE55M15UC. Like everyone else has said, it is quiet, cleans incredibly well. I have never had a problem loading the machine, although it is true that the directional tines has a learning curve (but now we are experts). I can wash my tall Tervis tumblers in the top rack, which adjusts up and down. I also love the "Quick Wash" cycle, which lasts less than 30 minutes and gets almost every load sparkling clean. If I have baked-on dishes, etc., I use the regular cycle, which is about 120 mins. Best part is that, without a heating element, I don't need to worry about the kids melting utensils or tupperware on the bottom rack. Anything goes wherever it can fit!

My Husband just ordered the Miele, he favored it because it has a 'knife rack' at the very top of the machine and it has high ratings!

Another happy Bosch owner here!

I've had an 800 series for about 4 years. This dishwasher & my fairly new fridge were the only "old" items that were included in the full kitchen renovation.

We have an open-concept area, so having a super-quiet dishwasher was a priority for me. I have been very, very happy with the Bosch. I often use the quick wash (only 35 minutes!) if I'm not washing pots & pans, and everything still comes out clean. I also often use the 1/2 load option.

Different models have different rack systems -- flexibility was important to me. My model has racks that can be folded or raised to fit the items you are washing at the time. I can even wash my large wine glasses by angling them a bit & resting the stems on a drop-down "shelf" in the top tier.

Quiet, cleans well, ecological -- what more could I ask for?

Eh, I have issues with my Bosch. It's under 2 years old at this point.

It's pretty, it cleans well, and it's nice and quiet. Those are its good points.

The fine mesh basket got encrusted with nastiness and we started having flooding issues a few months ago. We haven't had hard water problems with any other appliance in 12 years of living in this town. The repair guy told us that we must use Finish brand tabs and not Cascade or anything that uses a dissolving gel pack, because that contributes to the problem tremendously. We switched to finish, I keep a close eye on the trap, and we haven't had the problem since. Luckily, this happened *before* the kitchen reno and so all the water damage was ripped out.

The decorative side bit to the handle broke off less than a year into owning the machine. It doesn't affect how the machine works, but it's a nagging annoyance. For as much as we paid, I was disappointed to have any part of it break so quickly, even a completely cosmetic part.

Okay, I have had a Bosch 800 series Evolution (SHE68M05UC) for a little over four years and am not terribly happy with it. First, it has had an odd chemical smell since day one. I've read reviews that mention this smell and often it just goes away in time. How much time? Will it take another four years?

It is indeed gets the dishes clean and runs very quiet but unfortunately is punctuated with a most annoying beep beep beep that goes on incessantly until you get up and open the door. Well, a lot of good it does to have a quiet running DW that wakes you up or otherwise interrupts conversation, TV time or projects because the dishes are done. The dishes are clean, they will keep until *I* decide it's time to put them away. Sheesh.

I've contacted Bosch twice about disabling the beep. They claim it can be done but the instructions they sent me did not work because they sent me instructions for another model even though I sent them a photo of the control panel and model number plate. Instructions I found online did not work either. So, we can only do dishes when we have nothing else planned, like sleeping. yawn.

We also have Bosch wall oven and microwave and they too have annoying beeps that cannot be disabled unless you don't mind losing the timer beep sound. Found that out the hard way when I put something on the stove, set the microwave timer and went into the next room. The smell of smoke alerted me that something was burning. The timer had been set but did not sound off because I had disabled the bleeping beep that indicates whatever you are cooking in the microwave is done. And it reminds you every minute or so, again, until you get up and open the door. grrr.

On the up side, I do love the nice clean European lines of Bosch products which are perfect for my simple, zen-like kitchen. Just wish I could get rid of the bleeping beeps.

Jodi-

I've had a 500 series Bosch for about a year now and it works wonderfully. I turned off the beep right away with help from the instructions--it is annoying! One thing to remember is that there is no heating element, so things do take longer to dry. I usually run my in the evening and unload them in the morning. I love this feature because I use a lot of plastic ware, and you can load them anywhere in the dishwasher without the fear of them burning up. I'm also in a 2nd floor condo so the no-leak feature was a big one for me.

I have a Bosch and there is one problem that has bothered me since we started using the machine, 1.5 yrs ago when we installed during our remodel.

Quite often items in the top rack don't come out completely clean. There are food particles, or 'wash' type tiny specks on the glasses or whatever is loaded in the top. Very annoying and I regularly have to either hand wash them or run them through again. I don't understand why and would REALLY appreciate any suggestions or advice.

On the plus side it is definitely quiet. The dishes it cleans get nice and clean :). I also refuse to wash dishes before putting them in a dishwasher so the lower rack has seen some pretty encrusted pans that come out sparkling.

As for the beep have to agree it is seriously annoying. I need to dig out the manual and get our geekiest friend to figure out how to turn that sucker off!

If the top rack would actually clean my glasses I would be a very satisfied Bosch customer.

Oh man, you can turn off the beep?? Now where did I put that instruction manual? I'm so glad I read this thread now.

runningplace--I get white sediment on the top rack if something overturns (usually a lightweight plastic kid cup). Occasionally I get some on one of the glass glasses. No clue what it is either, but you're not alone!

There's a beep??? So glad that mine must have been turned off for me... Only problem with mine is the fact that it's TOO quiet, DH must have opened it while it was running 4 or 5 times already.