I have the 30" freestanding 1650 model. It's really, really easy to clean - in fact I removed the crsiper drawer yesterday to clean it. The freezer drawers make cleaning the freezer simple too - you just remove a drawer onto the counter to sort out contents, clean etc, while the rest of the freezer stays closed. The shelf edges have a much smaller 'edging' than the old GE style ones, and makes cleaning simple - just a wipe down. The shelves are much easier to remove, too.

We only rarely use the ice maker - it is plumbed in, because the piping was in place already. So, mostly the icemaker is switched off, and I store some frozen stuff along the sides of that drawer. I didn't know you could get a manual-fill reservoir: if I had known, I would have preferred that, to be honest.
Ours is now 5 years old and has been trouble free.

Would never recommend a Liebherr. Not only is it an expensive lemon of a machine, the customer service is indifferent. My icemaker broke months after purchase. Their solution? Repeatedly sending replacement parts. I finally have given up. It's been about 3 years without an ice maker.

Our 30" model looks nice and is easy to clean - except for the SS exterior. The interior is better organized than any of my old full-depth fridges. However, I am under the impression that the shelf placement had been probably designed for European markets with not so tall bottles/jars.

The ice-maker is pretty useless, very slow and noisy. IDK why but the ice cubes seem to melt a little and stick together forming one big mass of ice. We stopped using it.

You have to keep pouring a Clorox solution down the drain hole on the back wall or it gets clogged resulting in water under and IN the veggie/fruit bin.

We also have a problem with the back wall icing up all the time so everything close to it gets frozen. IDK what the problem is as I have not yet been able to get a technician here.

It was too small for us, so I got a Sub-Zero for this remodel. I have not had a chance to really evaluate it but I love it so far.

That being said, I don't know another full-size true counter-depth fridge (other than Sub-Zero) that can compete with Liebherr. As far as I know, Miele fridges are made by Liebherr. And Sub-Zero is more $$$$.

I am waiting for someone to design a "dream-fridge". :-)

So far, so good! ..Granted, it's only been a few months since we've owned our Liebherr, but wow what a fridge! So quiet, I keep wondering if it is working. All the features work as they should, and it integrates with the cabinetry so well some might come in to our kitchen and say "you don't have a refrigerator?"

Had the 30" bottom freezer for 2 years and it was excellent. Silent, even temps in both fridge and freezer.

There is more maintenance than advertised, however. There are one or two drainage holes on the left side behind the veg bin that need to be cleaned out with a Q tip about twice a month. We didn't notice them until water collected in the veg bin. No issues after that.

Ice maker, which garners some complaints, always worked perfectly.

The SS on this fridge is a bit harder to clean than other SS but they have a special cleaner and Method SS wipes work well. I would buy Liebherr again.

Gosh, I've been reading some older posts about the Liebherr drainage holes... Can someone clarify? Where does it drain to??? Is it with every liebherr model? (I'm looking at the 24 with freezer/and manual ice maker) or the 30" with bottom freezer/manual ice maker). To be frank I'm not really big on keeping up with refrigerator maintenance, besides the occassional inside cleaning. Is this normal with higher-end frigs? I HATE cleaning the frig, so I'm trying to find something that is minimalist in the hardware inside and also something that cools consistently throughout with freezing stuff. The other frig that I was considering was the counter-depth fisher-paskal, and supplementing it with the fisher-paskal frig-freezer drawer.

I was going to suggest looking into the F&P. (i've not researched it) . And it was not available when i bought my liebherr. The manual really should explain the simple maintenance on the liebherr. A simple schematic photo pointing out the troubleshooting areas, ...the drains, where they drain, etc. I should have taken pics when i had mine out last weekend. The fridge drain is easy to clean with a cotton swap. I found it very important to actually look at the back, locate the drain lines and know what you are cleaning...the drain pan seems to only hold maybe 2 cups, so you would not want to be pouring any large quantity of cleaner down that drain.
The freezer drain is not at all easy to access, but doable.
It is so easy to clean the interior. I rarely do. Except for checking for those odd little bags of long-gone salad. I'm a bit tidy putting things in...and it helps to put food in containers, haha, (kidding).
All appliances will have minor maintenance things to check and avoid costly, inconvenient, and unnecessary service calls. It should be more clear in the manual. It also helps to study the manual at installation. Still, we want to plug it in and expect it to do its job, as mine did for a few years.
(my ice tray has a crack in it now)

So when one does maintenance on the drain, does this mean you have to pull out the frig monthly? Is this easy? I never pulled out my last fridge. That one is 8 years old now and it came with the house we bought. (It's no longer cooling).

The fridge drain is right inside at eye level. Along the back wall above the veg bin. Very easy to check. (might have to move something out of the way). The rubber/plastic hose that carries any excess moisture, runs down the back of the fridge just behind the 'fence'. It empties into a 'pan', more like a hat or bunt shaped pan. All visible when you pull out your fridge. In my model, the freezer has a similar drain but it is accessed in the freezer compartment but behind and in the wall. So easy to have put an access plug or small panel. That drain froze probably during StormSandy. It was getting generator power but just enough to keep food cool. Should have just let it thaw but the lines for ice were hours long. Being without power was hard enough.

I read somewhere where some milk product accidentally went into that drain hole. It sat in the 'pan' and curdled. That could happen with any fridge so it is good to 'trouble-shoot' any odd problems and smells. My 'pan' was pretty gunkish and black scum. But not smelly. Some pans are pulled out from the front just under the fridge. All my past ones did and would get funky. All air intake grates should be taken off once a year and vac'd.
I had not and just did. Wow, that was one 'big' bunny.

I finally got to a showroom to see the 30" liebherr frig. I'm conflicted. I loved the simplicity of the interior, seems like a lot of space compared to other frigs and incredibly easy to clean. But the plastic shelving on the doors!!! The floor model actually had a broken piece, which the salesman "didn't notice until now". And the draws in the freezer seemed really flimsy. And why didn't they use pull out tracks like on the veggie drawer?
Then I saw the Mieli. Wow. The material used in the Mieli seems much more substantial. But the PRICE! Is it really worth it or are you paying for the name?

For what it's worth, in five years, I've NEVER had to clear out the drain . . . . I've NEVER had ice form on the back either.

The freezer drawers may seem flimsy, but this is the style typical in Europe: we're just accustomed to the heavier look of the GE ones, over here. Trust me, they're REALLY strong. And they don't have runners, for the best use of space. Plus it makes it easy to simply haul the whole thing out if you need to sort out the contents. Or remove a whole drawer if you need to fit a turkey in there or something. It's actually very flexible.

I'm confused about plastic shelving in the door? I don't have any - it's all glass. The only plastic is the cover on the top shelf, for eggs.

OK, I've had mine for a few months now, and you have me concerned about the cleaning of the drains!? I can't find any drain tubes of which you all speak, where are they located? Could someone post a picture of these drains that need cleaning? Thanks

This post was edited by ctycdm on Sat, Apr 27, 13 at 0:32

It was at least a year,maybe two, before i discovered the drain clogged.
If you refer to your manual it does have a small drawing pointing out the fridge drain. Mine is at eye level above the veg drawer, along the back wall, towards the left side. Don't worry, just trouble-shoot and remember if water forms, check that tiny drain hole. A q-tip with a bit of rubbing alcohol or peroxide or vinegar will un-clog it in seconds.
Just like we check the oil in our cars or tire pressure...just maintenance.

The door shelves are glass, the rails are metal...the rails rest into a plastic 'arm'. One of the 'arms' broke on mine so the rails were not useable hence the shelf was not useable without the rails to hold things on the shelf. They sent a replacement without chrarge.

No, you do not need to pull the fridge out to clean the drain. I just did it for the first time in 5 yrs to 'study' where the drain hose was emptying. Curiousity. And now i know.
(most fridge manuals do state clearly to vaccum below and behind your fridge annually but who does. )

Thanks sleevendog, maybe they have eliminated it on the new ones? I just looked through my whole manual, and no reference to drains or cleaning them anywhere. And nothing on the back wall of my fridge that remotely resembles a drain...

It was the plastic "arm" that was broken. They had patched it up literally with a bandaid. Im guessing so anyone wouldn't notice. But nice to know that they will replace the part. The salesman also said that the drain plugs require no maintenance. The 25" floor model had the drain hole in the far right corner just above the veggie draw.

Thanks for all the input so far! I also saw the fisher/paykal and did not like the interior rack design. Plus no ice maker in the freezer. I am leaning towards the 30" liebherr (because of space requirements), but which model??? I like the idea of being able to pull out the freezer drawers for cleaning and wipedown, but I also like the pullout drawer where you don't have to bend down so much to get into the freezer. The showroom did not have a freezer drawer version so what is the consensus on that? Also, the biofrresh drawer... Any thoughts on that? I usually have a lot of greens in my veggie draws and unlike the other manufacturers, there's no humidity controls on these drawers (except for the bio fresh versions).

could also be something to do with it not defrosting properly this i came across when liebherr sent out www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk a company who service the london area uk they found one of the sensors was faulty causing the motor to stay on for a longer period which affected the fridge compartment they replace the part and so far everthing seems ok.

could also be something to do with it not defrosting properly this i came across when liebherr sent out www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk a company who service the london area uk they found one of the sensors was faulty causing the motor to stay on for a longer period which affected the fridge compartment they replace the part and so far everthing seems ok.

i have the HCB 2062 and have had no problems with it except the doors closing which they promptly fixed...
CS was great to work with.. they called the service contractor then the service contractor callled me to make and appt..so all "red tape" was taken care of before they called me and it all went very smoothly...

have had it almost 3 yrs and we love it.

very easy to clean, much easier than the whirlpool i had..
its so much more streamed lined without all the plastic parts. door shelves are glass, metal & plastic to hold metal...super easy to clean and remove/return..

lighting is great...friend got a samsung and the lighting is horrible...

incredibly quiet!!!!!!!!!!!!! all we hear is the ice dropping and water refilling...have had zero issues with icemaker...

happy owner and would buy again!!!