Product review (4 stars): You get what you pay for
Update 5/24/16:
Dishwasher has been working fine without any further issues.  Upping rating back to 4 stars.  It is far superior to any other dishwasher I have used since phosphates were banned from dishwasher detergents.

Update 9/7/15:
Miele sent someone out to look at my dishwasher.  He took apart the machine and reassembled it, and the washer started working normally.  The technician said a relay must have gotten stuck-- we shall see.  It's been running a month now without issues.  I really want to like this machine for all the reasons outlined in the original review, and hope there are no more issues.

Update 8/4/15:
I've owned the dishwasher now for a few months or so and am on my second support call with Miele.  First problem was that a lemon seed made it through their mesh filter and into the drain pump.  A technician gave me the info on how to get the seed out, but this should have never happened in the first place.  Now i'm on to my second problem.  My machine is flashing both F11 and F51 errors.  F11 has something to do with the drain pump, and F51 has to do with a heater relay.  This level of reliability is simply unacceptable.  I'm lowering my rating from 5 stars to 3 stars based on my problems so far.  If this is a one off then I will leave my review at 3 stars.  If there are anymore problems then I will lower my review to 1 star and urge everyone to look elsewhere.

This is the 3rd dishwasher I have had to purchase in the past 6 years and hopefully the last for a very long time.  Since I have recently had so many dishwashers, let me compare them all:

1. A 90s era kitchenaid.  Great capacity, mediocre cleaning.  The control panel went, and repairs cost more than it was worth, so off to the dump it went.  I didn't mind it while it worked.
2. Kitchenaid was replaced with a midrange Bosch.  It seemed well built, but not the best at cleaning.  I bought this right around the time that phosphates were removed from dishwasher detergent, so maybe that was due to the new formulations.  It was a very rough machine-- once a month there would be a broken glass.
3. Moved to a new house that had an early 90s Bosch.  Was on its last legs and had this irritating feature where once a load was finished it would keep beeping until you shut it off.  This was quite obnoxious in the middle of the night, and would wake the kids up. Still, it was running at 15 years old which says something about the build quality.  We replaced it when updating the kitchen.
4. Whirlpool Gold- Even though dishwashers share the same dimensions, it always seemed to me that the American brands could pack in more stuff than their European counterparts.  This had good capacity, but turned out to be a lemon.  It was by far the worst at washing dishes.  In the 2.5 years I owned it, the dish rack broke 4 times, and even though I did repairs myself the parts weren't cheap.  When the seal around the pump went, leaking water all over the kitchen and warping my wood floors, it had to go.  I will never buy another Whirlpool or Kitchenaid (owned by whirlpool) again.
5. The Miele.  I was really concerned about shelling out so much money on a dishwasher, especially after the lemon Whirlpool.  But after the last piece of garbage I owned this thing is great.  Dishes are coming out much cleaner.  Water spots from flatware have disappeared.  It weighs at least twice as much as the whirlpool it replaced, which to me indicates it is built with more substantial components.  There are so many little things on this machine that I appreciate like metal axles on the dishrack wheels (had to replace broken plastic axels on the last one). The mesh filter at the bottom is made from stainless instead of cheap nylon and should last much longer.  Soundproofing makes it almost silent.  A dedicated 3rd wash arm for the flatware rack makes the knives and forks come out cleaner.  Although I didn't like the look of them at first, the layout of the dish racks is really good-- it allows even more stuff to be put in than the whirlpool.  Putting flatware in a small drawer at the top really gives more space for big stuff on the bottom.  Assuming the Miele doesn't have an untimely death like the last machine I owned, the extra cost spread out over many years will have been well worth it.  Another thing I really like is the stainless steel front.  It has some sort of coating which prevents fingerprint buildup, and is the only stainless appliance I've owned which didn't need constant polishing.

I expect something at this price range to last for a very long time.  If it suffers a premature death then I will update my review accordingly.
After looking at the higher end (and much more expensive) models, I didn't feel that they have much to offer beyond what this machine can do.  Besides things like custom panels and hidden controls, the feature that might improve cleaning for some is the capability to hold salt for water softening.  Water in my area isn't hard, so this was not important to me.  All the other stuff such as internal LED lighting, and a door that auto opens when the wash is done didn't seem worth the extra price.