Bosch SHX43M dishwasher

by Helene
(Cathedral City, CA)

My husband and I purchased a Bosch SHX43M after much looking and research. My husband was really sold on it's water and energy saving features. Overall, I suppose it is okay, but I must confess I really miss our old dishwasher.

The Bosch does seem to save energy, but only because it does not have a heating element or coil (!). Instead, it tries to dry the dishes by using the hot water to make the inside cabinet very hot and then rely upon evaporation to dry the dishes. This does not work well, in my opinion. Also, you must use a "rinse agent" to get anything to dry and that only increases expense and chemical usage. The wash cycle is also very long, which I think wastes water, even on the energy saving settings.

An even more annoying feature of the Bosch is that the upper rack has almost no tines (those little upright sticks to keep your glassware in place), so the glasses fall over into each other whenever you open and close the dishwasher. This makes loading extremely frustrating. I would say that this is the worst feature of this appliance.

On the good side, this dishwasher is EXTREMELY quiet. I mean, you have to really listen to even tell if it is running. I really like that feature -- our old dishwasher sounded like the tarmack at LAX. I also really like the look of this dishwasher -- very nice black front and comfortable handle. This quiet running is the best feature of this appliance. If you want quiet, you would be hard pressed to find something that makes less noise. Bottom rack is also pretty nice -- silverware basket is divided and includes a cover to keep small items in the basket. Top shelf also has a small cover or extra shelf bracket to keep little cups in the top rack. Nice features if you have young children with small cups and other items.

The Bosch gets the dishes clean standard for ordinary soiling, but it does not seem clean heavy soil or starchy residue.

The controls are located on the inside of the top edge of the door. This is both good and bad -- good if you have little kids you don't want fiddling with the controls, but bad in that you need to open the dishwasher (mid-cycle, etc.) to see the time remaining or get the "beep for the end of cycle timer to stop ringing, which either gets you wet or interferes with the steam evaporation for the post-cycle drying process.