Bosch SHE55M12UC 24 in. Built-in Dishwasher

Purchased July 29th 2010.
I'll try to keep updates posted on how this machine wears as time goes by.

Update: 11-9-2010
A few pet peeves have developed, but not enough to make me kick this machines to the curb. They're minor.

1.  Like the dishwasher we had before, sometimes this dishwasher is also too stingy with water, making for an unsatisfactory finishing rinse sequence. This could be a problem indicative of people who live in hard water areas like I do.  I've had to do a few manual finishing rinses, however this doesn't bother me.  This seems to be a universal problem with high efficiency dishwashers. Manufacturers seem to think that one or two finishing rinses are enough. And government mandates are forcing this rule. Older dishwashers used to give you the option of 3, or 4 automatic rinses at the end of a cycle.

2. Rinse Aid is not necessary. If a little bit of Borax and vinegar is added to the bottom of the tub and some borax and salt is put inside the detergent dispenser it effectively prevents spots. Borax, salt and vinegar are non-toxic substances, rinse aid is not. Borax costs less too. You can also put diluted vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser if you don't want to spend the money on rinse aid or feel like you have to run out and buy it every time the ANNOYING light comes on coaxing you to refill it.

3. The sanitized  light only comes on if the water that was entering the dishwasher was of significant low temp. What is this about sanitizing? Once you put your hands on the dishes or put them in the cupboard the dishes are no longer sanitized.
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Overview; -- 

Rated No. 1 (2010) by a leading consumer magazine. This is a high-efficiency dishwasher.

Even with the few updated pet peeves I've listed above, I still love this machine. Read on...

This machine does an impressive job of cleaning my dishes.  Unlike the Whirlpool dishwasher it replaced,  It doesn’t leave the dishes cloudy or spotted with food debris.  It ususally leaves them spotless and sparkling like diamonds. Ok that's an exxagerration, but not by much.  It doesn’t dishes heavily filmed like my Whirlpool did. It also doesn’t throw bits of foods that it washes off the other dishes and redeposit them onto the glasses or other dishes or bake them on after that if I use Sani-Rinse. :\, like my Whirlpool did.

If anyone is wondering  why dishwashers take so long to wash dishes these days, it’s because they don’t use anywhere near as much water as they used to.  To compensate for this, wash times have been significantly increased (Increase in soak times).  The USA Federal Government mandates have forced manufacturers that want to sell dishwashers in the USA to comply with new stringent water and electricity mising rules. Europeans are used to this and have been manufacturing their dishwashers and clothes washers in an eco-efficient way for decades, but the USA has just recently been forced to catch up. This could be why Bosch is one of the formidable foreign oriented competitors in the USA when it comes to dishwashers.

I had complained about our other Whirlpool dishwasher that this Bosch dishwasher replaced for quite some time. It wasn’t until I started washing the dishes by hand, that my housemate figured I had had enough with that  awful Whirlpool dishwasher.  I took it upon myself, since I was given the option, to select  the replacement for the old Whirlpool dishwasher (which was only 4 years old actually), so I selected this Bosch dishwasher.

Cleaning Performance --What can I say? As I said before, it makes my glassware sparkle like new with no streaks or spots, and dishes are thoroughly cleaned, although not always thoroughly rinsed. It removes dried on food. I don't know whether it removed baked on food or not yet. The fact it makes my glassware look so nice is impressive, considering I live in an area that probably has the hardest water in the USA. I don't have a water softener and this particular model doesn't have a salt dispenser, although I have found that putting some salt in the detergent dispenser with the detergent seems to do the trick
Also if you use those premeasured detergent tablets that some people like-using two is a better idea if you live in an area with hard water like I do, or you have very grimey or greasy dishes. Just put one tab in the silverware rack and one in the detergent dispenser with a little borax and salt and you're good to go! :)

Energy Efficiency -- Rated at 259 kWh/yr...One of the "greenest" dishwashers you can buy.  What does this mean in real terms? It will cost you approximately $19 a year in operating costs in natural gas and electricity if you have a gas water heater. If you have an electric water heater it will cost about $25 a year in electricity.

Water-Efficiency-- Uses about 5.8 gallons of water or less depending on which cycle you choose.. 

Aesthetics-- This dishwasher is distinctively European looking; which isn't a surprise to me since the design and engineering is German.  No bold looks that I can notice and the buttons are just the right size.  It’s a very boxy design with the control panel on the front. Hidden controls are not for me because I want to be able to easily tell where the machine is in the cycle.

Stainless Steel Tub-- I got the stainless steel tub version. This is mainly a snobbish choice of aesthetics. However the Bosch dishwashers all have stainless steel tubs with the exception of one cheaper model that has plastic on the bottom tub portion only.  Bosch claims that because of their machine design, the stainless steel tub actually helps to dry the dishes. The tub is covered for the life of the dishwasher. The stainless steel tub on our other dishwasher was resistant to stains, but it was not stain proof. I don’t know if this tub and liner will be different.

Noise Level—How quiet is this machine? On several occasions I've noticed me and other people in my household bending down to put their ears close to the machine to check to see if it is on!  Yeah, it's that quiet. It also sounds like a zen water fountain when it is filling.   I think my refrigerator makes more noise than this dishwasher- no joke. Perhaps I’m exaggerating, but it’s close competition.  The only thing you can hear when this dishwasher is on is a little bit of water splash noise and a slight hum when the water is being  drained.  At a noise rating of only 47 decibels, it actually seems to be too quiet perhaps?  This Bosch dishwasher is heavily noise insulated, and believe it or not, it’s still not the quietest model they make. With thick noise padding, two pumps, and no hard food disposer, it's easy to understand why this machine is very quiet. And here is the bottom line. I sometimes go downstairs when it's on and bring my sleeping bag to lay in front of it, cause it's not only quiet, but what minimal sound it does make, is actually pleasant and zen like


Cycles  on this machine  seem to be excessive, and perhaps somewhat confusing at times, but I wanted this model because it was what a leading consumer magazine rated the best .  This dishwasher comes with the following standard cycles that also incorporate fuzzy logic technology:

Cycle Indication Lights—This dishwasher has buttons  that don’t depress much when pushed. They are more like click buttons or click switches. A slight click is all you hear when they are pushed.  There are no knobs. There is a time remaining countdown light and a sanitized indicator light and a light that lets you know when to refill the rinse aid on the front panel. The sanitized light only comes on at the end of the cycle if the dishwasher had to significantly heat up the wash and rinse water.  Sanitation is not a problem. It's standard on this dishwasher. Besides, your dishes are sanitized enough by the sodium hypochlorite (bleach) in your detergent and the heat from the water. When you put dishes into the cupboard they are infested with tiny microbes. So sani rinse, etc. on dishwashers is quite a frivolous cycle, but it helps dishwashers sell, so I imagine that's why you see this cycle so much on dish machines. You cannot tell by looking at the control panel when this dishwasher is filling, rinsing or washing. It only has a countdown readout. However, that being said....,

Sani-Rinse - There is a Sani-Rinse option on this machine. Bosch calls it extra-heat drying. To obtain this cycle you must depress the left cancel/reset button and the on/off button simultaneously. This option adds significant time to the total cycle and heats the rinse water to 155 degrees. I don't know why they make it so complicated to select certain cycles. You would think Bosch could just put a Sani-Rinse button on the machine, but I think it has to do with them saving money. It's cheaper to complicate the programming of the electronics, instead of making or buying millions of extra buttons. The same can be said for the cancel/reset function. There is no separate button for this function.

Half Load – Automatically adjusts energy and water usage for a half loaded dishwasher and washes accordingly. There is no “top rack only” wash cycle for this model

Eco – Checks condition of water to see whether extra fills are necessary for wash and rinse cycles.

Power Scrub Plus - Removes heavily dried on food soils of pots and pans or regular dishes. This seems to work on glass or ceramic or porcelain coated interiors, but it does not work that well on stainless steel. We don't have aluminum cookware for health reasons, so I can't judge how it cleans those on this cycle.

Auto Wash - Automatically adjusts cycle to how dirty the dishes are and washes accordingly.  This cycle is good for normally soiled dishes with dried food on them or heavily soiled regular dishes with no food on them. Depending on how dirty the water becomes, the dishwasher will either provide 1 or 2 or no prerinses.  The cycle time can easily be cut by 20 min or more by combining this cycle with the ECO option.

Regular Cycle  - For normally soiled everyday dishes without dried food on them

Quick Wash  - For lightly soiled dishes that don’t have dried food on them  or heavy soils. It takes about 35 minutes. This cycle can be used right after you clean up for a dinner party perhaps or if you're washing dishes that you want to use that have been stored in the garage or basement. This cycle does not dry the dishes well.

Hi-Temp-- This is not something a person can select manually. Hi temp comes on if it needs to.

Sani-Rinse  -- Sani Rinse is called Extra Heat on this dishwasher and must be selected by pressing a couple of the buttons simultaneously on the front panel and holding for three seconds.  The learning curve is little bit different for this dishwasher, but it doesn’t bother me. I could be mistaken when describing this cycle, cause the design of this dishwasher is very different from American oriented dishwashers. Extra High Heat is described by the manufacturer as extra heat and extended dry cycle time in order to improve drying, but it seems to have a sani rinse effect too.

Rinse and Hold  - This dishwasher doesn’t have a rinse and hold cycle; but not to worry. I haven’t found that I need one with this machine.

Delicate/ Eco -   This cycle is for washing china and crystal or lightly soiled dishes. It is slightly longer than Quick Wash. I imagine this cycle would be good to use if you have a bunch of stored crystal and china that is dusty to rinse or wash off, otherwise this is a cycle that would rarely get used.., cause I don't know about you, but I'd never put my fine china in a dishwasher.

Delay Start -- With this dishwasher you can delay the start time for about 19 hours if you want to. Delay start is a nice feature to have on a dishwasher, because it allows you take advantage of off peak hours of electricity rates, or set the machine to come on when you go to bed. A dishwasher can’t get any more silent when it comes on when you’re countin’ sheep.

Child Lock - Yep it has one. It keeps toddlers from changing the cycles

Heated Dry—The heated dry is not optional and seems to work just fine. I'm not even sure this machine has the traditional heating element that most people in USA may be used to. It uses a concealed element combined with condensation drying technology to dry the dishes. (No more melted plastics) A special unit in the motor is used to heat the water for rinsing and drying..  Because there is no exposed heating element,  you can put your plastics anywhere you want in this dishwasher, even if the items say "top rack only". The only “problem” with the dry cycle is that it does not seem to dry plastics all that well, but this may not be an issue for you as it isn't for me. It's an issue for some people though. Come to think of it, I don't know of any dishwasher that will dry plastics well. Plastic doesn't conduct heat. There have been many previous complaints about Bosch dishwashers not drying the dishes. This has not been my experience. It dries my metal, glass and ceramic dishes just fine. The stainless steel tub will be wet at the end of the cycle, but the dishes will be dry with the exception of plastics.

Capacity -- Now this might be an issue for some people. At first glance this dishwasher does seem to be smaller in capacity than what most Americans are used to; however I think with this dishwasher the space is just more compact. It holds about 14 place settings of dishes. That's plenty for me..  My eye is not that discerning. But this shouldn't be a problem as long as you are not loading the dishwasher with tons of pots and pans all the time and you are loading it correctly. Many people don't load their dishwasher correctly. Pots and pans are something I tend to wash by hand. My other dishwasher had larger capacity but didn't clean the dishes worth a hootenanny, so I'll take the Bosch, thank you. :) Also, with the Bosch dishwasher, overlapping works well because of its powerful jet sprays. Overlapping increases loading space.

Flatware Rack  -- The  flatware rack is marvelous.  It’s what they call the flexible type. It’s huge, and can be snapped back to back or side to side and has individual cubicles so the flatware doesn’t get nested together.  You can put the flatware basket anywhere you want to on the bottom rack or just use one half of the rack, (greatly improving loading space), if you don’t have that much flatware to load. This model doesn’t have a standard non-flexible cube flatware basket which has cubicle lids that can be snapped in the stay up position, however the cubicle lid on the flatware rack can be folded down flat to lay on the side.  

Bottom Dish Rack -- (I would like to point out that I'm surprised so many people complain about Bosch dishwsher racks. I really like the  rack designs of this dishwasher). The design of the bottom dish rack is nice to me. It fits my plates fine and it fits bowls great. When I shopped for this dishwasher I made sure to take my dishes with me to see if they would fit because I heard that the capacity is smaller than what most Americans are used to.  There are pleny of tines on the upper and lower racks that can be folded down to accomodate super large bowls or pots and pans

Upper Rack -- The upper rack is adequate for most  glasses and cups and tea cup saucers.  It IS height adjustable.   There are no clasping  tines that I have noticed on the top rack to hold lids, etc. Small lids and other similar items can be put under the flatware cubicle grid lid in the flatware basket.

Upper Rack Cup Shelves --  These can be used for ladles and large serving utensils or to easily fit wine glasses.  The cup shelves lay flat over tea cups or other short cups like liquor shot glasses. Or they can be folded up to accommodate tall glasses. On the upper and lower rack there are also tines that can be folded down or up to better accomodate your glassware and other dishware.

Tall Tub Washing – The upper rack can be removed and the upper water pipe can be fitted with an included sprayer head to wash large cookie sheets and other large dish and utensil items you wouldn’t normally be able to fit in a dishwasher.  At first I thought this feature was kind of silly, until one day when I had  3 cookie sheets, 2 small pots, a microwave turntable platter,  and 2 plastic cutting boards to wash. I didn't think it was a stupid feature after that scenario. It cleaned all the tall items well. Imagine how handy this feature is going to be come Thanksgiving and Christmas :)  :)

Rinsing--- The finishing rinse seems to be a little bit skimpy. I always have to do one more manual rinse after the machine is through with its cycles. But this may have to do with me living in a hard water area.

Semi  Self-Clean Filter – Most Americans are used to dishwashers with hard food disposers and self cleaning filters. Hard food disposers in dishwashers would seem like a good idea, until you realize they add significantly to noise levels of dishwashers, and can effect cleaning performance, causing food bits be redeposited onto the dishes during the wash. :\  Bosch realizes this engineering idea is not good, so they use a triple stage filter instead, that traps large particles. Most of the debris that goes into this trap will liquefy and get flushed out of the sump in the machine automatically, however it does have to be cleaned periodically if large non-dissolving particles get trapped in it.  It's easy to clean. This keeps junk from getting trapped inside the wash module.  This happened with my Whirlpool dishwasher that I used to have, which impeded cleaning performance and increased the motor noise. A leading consumer magazine says to watch out for things like raspberry/blackberry seeds with this dishwasher.  I like not having a hard food disposer as opposed to having one. You probably will too.

Rinse Aid Dispenser - Yep, it has one. The level of how much rinse aid is dispensed can be adjusted. There is an obvious commercial tie in with Reckitt-Benkiser regarding the rinse aid and detergent that is recommended for this machine. Their rinse aid brand is not only stenciled on, but embossed on the plastic dispending cup doors. There is also a long sticker along the rim of inside lip of the door.

Salt – There is no salt dispenser on this particular model. I know that some Bosch dishwashers have this feature, but this dishwasher does not have this feature. The more expensive dishwashers that Bosch makes have salt dispensers.

Detergent Dispenser - The detergent dispenser slides open and holds a little bit of detergent. It looks small, but it's adequate enough to do the job. Borax can also be added as an additive to the detergent in the detergent cup and it seems to work well.  Bosch recommends powdered detergent or those compressed cubes of detergent. I'm not sure why this is.

You do not have to use Finish detergent in this machine like some people seem to think just because that's what the commercial tie in is. I've used cascade detergent tablets in this machine with great results. I have not had luck with the loose powders in this machine for some reason. I have not used the liquid detergents either.

Drying - I have seen reports that this Brand of dishwasher has problems drying dishes. We honestly have not had this problem. This may have been a problem with Bosch/ Siemens dishwashers in the past.  With this dishwasher, when the drying cycle is done, the tub might be wet, but the dishes will be dry.

Engineering Differences ---------------------

Has 2 Pumps- One for washing and one for draining. This minimizes noise and vibration that you get with other dishwashers.

Super Thick Insulation - It makes the machine 47 decibels quiet (about as quiet as a refrigerator)

Non Center Pump and Motor Mounts - Further aids in quietness of machine

Condensation Drying - Most dishwashers have a heated coil to dry the dishes. This machine uses condensation or a dehumidification process and residual heat to dry the dishes. There is a concealed coil, but the machine doesn't solely rely on the heating coil to dry the dishes.

Special Nylon Coated Racks - They resist or prevent rust through

Fuzzy Logic - Senses soil level and adjusts cycle accordingly (heat and water fills)

Has no food disposer, used a triple stage filter instead.


Warranties---- -----------------

2 year limited warranty - Bosch will replace or repair any component that proves to be defective in materials or workmanship (excludes labor charges)

5 year limited warranty - Bosch will replace or repair any Bosch microprocessor or circuit board that proves to be defective in materials or workmanship (excludes labor charges)

5 year limited warranty - Dish Racks will be replaced by Bosch (excluding rack components) if they proved to be defective in materials or workmanship (excludes labor charges)

Lifetime Warranty- Stainless Steel Rust Through, Bosch will replace the dishwasher with the same or current model that is substantially equivalent or better in functionality if the inner liner should rust through (excludes labor charges).   Bosch will replace the stainless steel door if the door should rust through (excludes labor charges)

Extened Warranties- Are usually available from your retailer which usually extends all the warranties indicated by the manufacturer by 50%, with the exception of the lifetime warranty given by the manufacturer.


Things to consider.... May be pet peeves for you? ---------------------------

Rinse and Hold- It doesn't have this cycle. But then again, it doesn't seem to need it. You can always do a manual rinse and hold by turning it on letting it fill and operate for three minutes, then push the cancel/drain buttons

Plastic Drying -- Some say it doesn't dry plastics well. This is true, but do you know of any dishwasher that dries plastics well? Plastic doesn't conduct heat.  And what are you doing with that much plastic dishware anyhow????

Cycle times -- This machine has long cycle times (35 to 120 min for this machine)  are something people are going to have to get used to. With dishwashers using less water because of government mandates, long cycle times have become standard. This machine is no exception. The Quick Wash cycle which is 35 minutes is an exception to the long wash cycle standard, but it is only for very lightly soiled dishes with no dried on food.. I thought the long cycle times would bother me, but they really don't, cause I usually set the machine to come on at 2am-when I'm asleep for the night. It's best to do this anyway, as by that time everyone is through using water and they are asleep too---eliminating the less than desirable effect of low water pressure and higher utility rates.

Heated Dry? – Tricky one….Uses a concealed heating element combined with condensation drying technology. This cycle comes on whether you like it or not.  There is no option to turn it off. This is usually reserved for the last 10 minutes of the cycle. When the LED panel reads 10 minutes the machine can be turned off and the door can be opened to air dry the dishes if you prefer.

Vinyl and Plastic  Smells -- Strange vinyl or plastic smells that will dissipate over time seem to emanate from this dishwasher when you first by it and are close to it. It kind of smells like a combination of armpit funk and plastic resin of some type.  I think this is mainly due to the special seal they have around the nook where the dishwasher fits underneath the counter to aid in sealing out dust, critters, moisture and noise. Over time, this smell may decrease. Most dishwashers don't smell like this when new, so it's surprising.

Capacity -- At first glance the capacity of this machine does  seem smaller than what most Americans may be used to, however I think with this dishwasher it's just more compact. I can fit plenty of dishes in this thing.  This has not been a problem for me, but it may be for you. Also when you are shopping for dishwashers, make sure you take some samples of your dishware with you so you know if they will fit in the machine or not.  The 2005 Whirlpool dishwasher that this machine replaced for us, had a large capacity but did a dreadful job of cleaning my dishes,  so there's no way I'm gonna complain about this dishwasher, just because its capacity is slightly smaller.

Quietness -- It's quite quiet.   Some may not like the fact that this dishwasher only has 47 decibels of sound when it's on. Unless you're paying attention or the TV isn't blaring, it's hard to tell that it's on. I would also like to add, that what little noise it does make is actually pleasant. There is a slight growl when the motor first starts pumping the water around when the tub has not completely filled with water, or when it drains, but after that it sounds like a zen water fountain with a very quiet hum.

Food Grinder/Disposer -- It doesn't have one, however it also doesn't need one and performs fine without one.  It has a filter that liquifies food, then flushes the juice, and it has a trap for non dissolving particles. This has not been an issue for me. It just has to be cleaned periodically. There are rarely any food particles in the trap. And the stuff I occasionally find in the trap, I wouldn't want going into the plumbing system of a dishwasher, hard food disposer or not. But many people seem to need their hard food disposers in dishwashers for some reason.

Other Notes:
I would like to point out that it's important to load a dishwasher correctly. You can't load a dishwasher haphazardly and expect dishes to come out clean. I've seen people put many dishes in a dishwasher with the wrong side facing the water spray. Not a good idea. If you took a shower and didn't let the water spray hit all sides of you, how clean would you get?

Sears markets several Bosch dishwashers under their Kenmore trade name. An experienced eye can usually tell, just by looking at the inside tub design of the dishwasher cosmetically designed and badged as Kenmores. Distinctive wash arm designs and detergent dispensers are tell tale clues. However if you don't have this eye, look for a sku or serial number beginning in 825. If it starts with 825 and on the outside it says Kenmore, it's actually a cosmetically engineered Bosch dishwasher. This information is important because Sears has been around for many years and some people like shopping there for their appliances because of their wide selection. Also in order to compete, this merchant may have specials and deals from time to time that are unmatched by others.

Why didn't I give this model a 5 star rating?  For little things like, no light inside the tub, no  salt dispenser, no rinse and hold cycle, it's not the quietest model they make, etc.