Miele La Perla dishwasher G2830

We purchased the Miele La Parla dishwasher, model# G2830, with a stainless steel front panel. The various model suffixes (CiSS, CiBL, CiWH, etc.), just refer to the color combinations and front panel options. In our case, the front panel is stainless steel, the trim piece above the front panel is stainless, and the display screen is black with orange lettering.

The interior is stainless steel also. The upper rack (for the silverware) is plastic, while the middle and lower racks are the usual type.

One reason why we got the unit was because it is smaller than the big units (Kenmore, Whirlpool, etc.). We had to do this because we converted from a vinyl floor to a stone tile floor, so the opening was 3/4" shorter than it was before.
However, because of the adjustable middle rack, there is plenty of room inside. We have the middle rack adjusted all of the way up (and we just leave it that way) so that large pots and dinner plates can go on the bottom rack and smaller items go on the middle rack. The upper rack is just for silverware and cooking spoon. Each rack has its own rotating spray arm.

Although it took about a week to get used to it, we decided that we really like the slide-out rack for the silverware. At first, I wondered "where's the basket for the silverware?" But actually the top slide-out rack is for knives, forks, spoons, and cooking spoons. It took a week to get used to this instead of just tossing them into the usual silverware bin. But in the end my wife and I both decided that we like this simply because our silverware has never been cleaner since the slide-out rack has a dedicated spray-arm.

This unit doesn't have a built-in disposal and we worried a little about that. But we have the "clean the filter" reminder set to 40 washes and the times we've cleaned it there really wasn't anything in there: a scalloped potato once, and a noodle another time. The manual says that these (and chunks of beef) don't emulsify; but we haven't had any problems and cleaning the filter is trivial. Just pop the large white handle, pull it out, rinse it in the sink, then pop it back.

The dishwasher also has its own water softener. We have a water softener for the whole house, but we are also using the dishwasher's softener for an added boost and we do not have any water spots on glasses (we have well water, so the whole house water softener is required since we have 32 grain water). We have the dishwasher set to the "12" setting and refill the dishwasher's salt bin every 2 months. Note that the dishwasher has a hardness sensor, but since we have a whole house water softener, we can't set the dishwasher to "auto" since the softening ions confuse the sensor. We currently use Somat salt, but will switch to Miele's brand that they just started selling. A $13 box should last us for 6 months so I'll just go with what Miele recommends.

If a spray arm is blocked, or if the detergent dispenser is blocked (a cookie sheet in front of it) then the display panel will give a message.

The display panel will also say when to put in more salt and it is easy to do: just open the little plastic bin, pour in about a half box of salt, then close the bin (and remember to click OK, otherwise it will keep telling you to fill the bin).


Note that the unit is very quiet. Several times we've opened the door to find water spraying (it shuts off the water when we open the door). All we can hear is water spray noises on large pots if we listen closely.

One thing to note is that the unit connects to the cold water line instead of the hot water line. The manual says that this is because the unit heats the water itself as needed, and also because the water in the hot water line is cool (since it has been sitting there cooling off). If the unit dumped that water until the hot water arrived from the water heater, then that would be considered wasting water. Anyway, it is a minor point but something to keep in mind that your under sink plumbing will need to be rerouted a little.

The unit has a child-lockout feature but it is useless; our 15 month old can operate the dishwasher and thinks that it is great fun to push the soft keys and have the unit beep in response.



Issues/Problems/Dislikes (all minor or fixed):

The only problem we had was that when it was delivered, the stainless steel front panel wasn't there. The dealer had left it back at the store since the front panel is ordered separately from the main unit. So the dealer went back and got it, but it had a couple scratches on it. They made a quick call to Miele, and a new front panel was sent via UPS in 2 days directly to me. It was simple enough to put on so I just popped it on myself.

The cycle time of the unit is long. Although it has many modes and you have to scroll through a list on the front panel to select the one you want. As a result, we find that we only have been using 2 cycles: Pots and Pans, and Sterilize (for baby bottles). Pots and Pans takes 170 minutes and we basically use that for everything. Even the other cycles are slow, but that seems typical of all of the new energy efficient dishwashers.


Conclusions:

We have been very happy with this unit. The negatives are small and we don't have any regrets. The unit was very expensive, and that was a hard pill to swallow, but in the end we would make the same decision. The competing products are inferior. This is our first experience with a Miele product, but we've been so happy that we are also considering the new Miele washer/dryer units.