Direct answer: A Miele dishwasher that is not drying is usually dealing with one of two things: the machine never got the load hot enough, or moist air is not leaving the tub the way it should. Start with the cycle, rinse aid, filter area, and loading pattern before you suspect a failed internal part.
Most likely: The most common causes are eco or low-heat settings, empty rinse aid, plastic items holding water, a dirty filter area that hurts airflow and wash performance, or a door being opened too soon at the end of the cycle.
First separate what kind of wet you have. If the dishes are hot but still have beads of water, think rinse aid, loading, and venting. If the dishes are cool and the whole tub feels lukewarm at the end, think heating problem. Reality check: some moisture on plastic cups and lids can be normal even when the dishwasher is working well. Common wrong move: opening the door mid-cycle or right after the final rinse and then calling it a drying failure.
Don’t start with: Do not start by ordering a heater, fan, or control part just because dishes are wet. A lot of 'not drying' calls turn out to be settings, loading, or normal moisture on plastics.
Plates, glasses, and silverware all come out damp, and the tub may feel cooler than expected at the end.
Start here: Start with cycle selection and a full hot-cycle check to see whether the dishwasher is actually heating.
Plastic cups, lids, and containers hold puddles, but glass and ceramic are mostly dry.
Start here: Start with rinse aid and loading. That pattern is often normal or close to normal, not a failed part.
The load feels warm, but water beads cling to surfaces and collect in cup bottoms.
Start here: Start with rinse aid level, overloading, and whether items are blocking air movement and drainage off the dishes.
The dishwasher used to dry better, and now loads stay wetter even on the same cycle.
Start here: Start with the filter area, spray arms, and signs of weak washing or poor final-rinse performance before blaming electronics.
Many drying complaints start after a setting change. Lower-temp cycles leave less stored heat in the dishes, so there is less drying at the end.
Quick check: Run the hottest normal full cycle you use, with heated drying options enabled if available, and compare the result.
Rinse aid helps water sheet off dishes instead of hanging on as droplets. When it runs low, glass and metal often come out spotted and wet.
Quick check: Check the rinse aid dispenser and refill it if it is low or empty.
Nested bowls, cups tilted the wrong way, and crowded racks hold water no matter how good the drying system is. Plastics are the first to show it.
Quick check: Look for cup bottoms facing up, large items blocking vents or fan areas, and dishes packed too tightly together.
If the whole load is cool and wet after a full cycle, the dishwasher may not be heating properly or the drying fan may not be moving moist air out.
Quick check: At the end of a hot cycle, carefully crack the door. If there is little heat and almost no steam, move toward a heater or fan diagnosis.
Wet plastic is different from a dishwasher that never heats. Sorting that out first keeps you from chasing the wrong repair.
Next move: If glass and ceramic are warm and mostly dry, and the main complaint is plastic items holding water, the dishwasher is probably heating and you should focus on rinse aid and loading. If the whole load is cool and wet, keep going. That points more toward poor heating or weak drying airflow.
What to conclude: Hot dishes with droplets usually mean water is not sheeting off well. Cool dishes usually mean the machine never built enough heat for drying to happen well.
Settings, rinse aid, and loading cause more weak drying complaints than failed parts, and they are fast to correct.
Next move: If the next load dries noticeably better, you had a use-condition problem rather than a failed component. If drying is still poor, especially on glass and ceramic, move on to cleaning and wash-performance checks.
What to conclude: Poor sheeting and trapped water leave dishes wet even when the dishwasher is technically finishing the cycle normally.
A dishwasher that is washing weakly often dries weakly too. Food film, restricted water movement, and a dirty filter area can leave the final rinse less effective.
Next move: If dishes come out cleaner, hotter, and drier, the problem was reduced wash and rinse performance rather than a failed drying part. If the load is still cool and wet after a full cycle, move to a heating-versus-fan check.
This is the split that matters before parts. A heater problem leaves the whole load cool. A vent or fan problem often leaves the load hot but still damp.
Next move: If you can clearly sort the symptom into hot-but-wet or cool-and-wet, you now have a much tighter repair path. If the results are inconsistent from one cycle to the next, or the dishwasher stops mid-cycle, the problem may be electrical or control-related and is a good point to bring in a service tech.
Once you know whether the machine is heating, you can make a smarter repair decision and avoid buying the wrong component.
A good result: If the pattern is clear and the correction matches it, you can either keep the dishwasher in service or move straight to the right repair.
If not: If you still cannot pin down whether the issue is heat, airflow, or a broader control problem, professional diagnosis is the cheaper move than guess-buying parts.
What to conclude: A repeatable hot-but-wet pattern and a repeatable cool-and-wet pattern do not point to the same fix. Treat them differently.
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If the cycle completes normally, the most common causes are low rinse aid, a low-heat cycle, crowded loading, or plastic items holding water. If glass and ceramic are also cool at the end, then the dishwasher may not be heating properly.
Yes, some moisture on plastic is normal because plastic does not hold heat like ceramic or glass. If only plastics are wet and everything else is mostly dry, that usually does not point to a failed part.
Yes. A dirty dishwasher filter can reduce wash and rinse performance, which leaves dishes less clean, less hot, and harder to dry well at the end of the cycle.
Run a full hot cycle and check ceramic or glass items at the end. If the whole load is cool and wet, a heating problem is more likely. If the load is hot but still damp, look harder at rinse aid, loading, or a drying fan issue.
No. Wet dishes alone are not enough to call the heating element bad. First rule out cycle choice, rinse aid, loading, and filter-area buildup. Replace parts only after the symptom clearly points to a heating failure.
Gradual decline usually fits maintenance issues better than sudden part failure. Low rinse aid, dirty filters, clogged spray arm holes, and loading habits are much more likely when drying slowly gets worse over time.