I can't tell you what the end caps were on mine but in my old kit I had the integra with the handle and no problems. I used it for over 5 yrs.

I just checked mine it is the SHX55 not 45,and the end caps are metal not plastic. I know what you mean about Bosch customer service. After trying very unsuccessfully to get some info about a previous dishwasher I e-mailed congratulating them on having the worst service I had ever encountered,needless to say they did not respond to that e-mail either.

We brought a new dishwasher from Bosch and love it but 6 months after we brought it the chrome piece broke on it, we are trying to get a replacement part but am having trouble trying to get in touch with Bosch. In the meantime I husband who is a machinest, came up with a piece that fits behind it and it solves the problem, there is no way that piece can break now, so soon as we get our new part we are in good shape. It was a easy fit, thinking about telling the company but in the meantime making them for a bunch of people with the same problem

I bought a Bosch dishwasher at the end of August 2015 and have had to have the plastic insert handle replaced 4 times! My handle is built into the door and the plastic insert is so cheap and flimsy, that it only lasts about 3 weeks before it cracks. Bosch customer service was no help. The store I bought it through has no answers. Luckily, it was still under warranty so I don't have to pay for the inconvenience. But this is ridiculous to have the handle insert replaced monthly! I am so frustrated.

Interesting - I just bought one with the recessing handle. As I was reading this I was thinking glad I didn't opt for the bar type handle as I was considering that. Then I get to the end and find the other kind is also a problem. I bought the extended warranty which includes replacement of the unit if there are three repairs within a year. Never would have imagined that might happen over the handle breaking repeatedly.

Just realized this post was from 2008 after I looked at my handle and thought no way this thing would break. I imagine they've improved over the last eight years. I hate how these ancient posts appear since the switch to Houzz.

These ancient posts appear because someone tops them 8 years later with their own new stories and questions (see posts from April 2015 and then yesterday).

" I hate how these ancient posts appear since the switch to Houzz."

Has nothing directly to do with Houzz. GardenWeb retained a history of old threads which were indexed by search engines and sometimes brought up by a new post.

I was the original poster so I get updates when anything is posted. I think it would be helpful if the website made the dates more noticeable with a larger font that stood out more but I actually think it's good thing these old threads were retained so we can see that some things never change. I found it interesting that there was a post in April 2015 and again by pierish a day ago and there is still a problem with these Bosch dishwasher handles!!!

Altho, my Bosch dishwasher is still running fine 8 years later, after multiple end cap replacements I finally gave up and I have had one missing for years and the other is cracked so I will not be surprised when it falls off (it bugged me initially but no one else seems to notice it so I just don't let it bother me anymore).

The updates to my original post confirm in my mind that Bosch customer service is terrible and when I got to replace my appliances I will not buy another Bosch.

Not sure why I never saw the ancient posts and responded to them pre-houzz but I didn't. I now try to check before I read or respond and I'm sure I'll get more in the habit of that. In any case I'm over my concern about new Bosch DW handle breaking.

had the exact same problem

They used a cheap plastic part in a structural application. It's going to fail.

ok here we are in December 2016 and I have the same problem. Only difference: I have not tried the plunger ( joke) nor called Bosch customer service. I am warned by the comments. Thank you! Very disappointing for a otherwise good product and not really a well received perception of Bosch quality in general. I will probably not buy any Bosch products in the future anymore.

Here I am looking at the posts, as we're replacing our caps. My one was cracked from new, and replaced when installed. I had been living with a cracked cap, and then the other broke, making the handle loose. Today, I picked up two new caps 19.60 total w/ 6% PA sales tax. Thankfully, my husband is handy, so I do not have to pay for a service call and who knows how much for the guy to pull off the old/broken, caps, and install the new. Lets see how long the new caps last!
Indeed, Bosh has their issues and refuses to help the customer that spent good money, thinking they were getting a great product.
My oven door hinges are known to spread with use. Again, they will not address the issue, other than to SELL a repair kit. Shame on you Bosch. Our 1st Bosch dishwasher was great Then we redid the kitchen, bought a new DW and stove, and things are not as good as they once were. Both of mine were purchased spring of 2008.
They work, but there sure are some design flaws.

Hey guys. I have the same problem. After 1.5 years my handle cracked. Mine is SHP65TL5UC. Where do you guys buying those handles? Thank you in advance.

I ordered from my appliance store, where I purchased the DW from. Took a few days to come in. I think for the two side brackets it was 20.00 with my 6% sales tax. My handle was fine, just my brackets that cover the mounting screws. If you have a local Bosch dealer give them a call, they are familiar with the situation. You do have to remove the screws on the inside of your door to put them on. If you are a bit handy, it is fairly easy to do. Otherwise you need to wait on the repair guy.

Funny, I was looking at this because the same thing just happened to our Bosch Dishwasher too. I can't believe after all of these years they haven't fixed such a simple problem. Manufacturer some metal parts instead of this plastic crap! Ours is less than 2 years old and it's just my wife and I using the dishwasher so it doesn't get rough treatment at all.

We have a cracked handle too. I am replacing this Bosch

SHE55M16UC/64 dishwasher. This is a design flaw… I never have liked how the dishwasher opened with that recessed handle it always seemed like I was going to be breaking it. When my daughters or other people helped with dishes they always were uncomfortable about pulling the handle thinking it would break… Definitely a design flaw...cracked in two places. The actual dishwasher does an excellent job cleaning my dishes, is quiet.... Such a shame.

I just got off the phone with Bosch and I am furious!!!! I bought my dishwasher in 2015. The handle snapped about two months into owning it. I called the store I purchased it from and they said they could do nothing. Since they delivered it in perfect condition. My friend was over recently (August 2017) and noticed the crack. She has the exact same model and her is cracked too!!! This made me realize it must be some sort of defect. I called the place I purchased it from and they called bosch and they'll send me a replacement. Unfortunately, they won't cover the service guy to install part. That'll cost me 100 dollars. I called Bosch to ask them to cover it and they said no! They sell me a damaged dishwasher and expect me to pay the service to repair it. I will NEVER buy a Bosch product again.

We bought our second Bosch Dishwasher a little over two years ago. I think the parts are under warranty for five years. The part couldn't cost much, but I sure don't want to pay the money to have it replaced. I'm going to find the part and see if I can do it myself. This just sucks. Otherwise, I love the dishwasher. I hope it last 15 years like the last Bosch did. If your dishwasher is less than a year old, the guarantee should cover all of it, parts and labor.

My first Bosch dishwasher was wonderful, relatable. That's why I bought another one in 2016. Such a disappointment! Many plastic parts are plastic such as recessed handle and control panel. Bosch customer service is useless - claims they know nothing about any problems. Haha. My dealer came out and replaced my recessed handle 5 (no joke) times. Finally, they replaced the entire front stainless panel, and that seems have stopped the handle cracking. Now the control panel (plastic) is cracked, and I can't changed the setting to anything but "auto". Too tired and frustrated to call and get it fixed. Just waiting for the entire dishwasher to die and get a new one. Will never buy Bosch again.

Surprise, our recessed door handle also cracked. It was a slow death, just ordered a new one for replacement and I intend to install it myself. Considering the cost of the machine and the fact that it is very quiet and cleans great, I am surprised this is such a cheap part. I believe it is a combination of over torquing the attachment screws, heat from the machine and the use of the plastic. It is an eyesore in a nice kitchen and a reminder to all of my guests not to buy this product. I was sure I would not have to replace this one again....guess I was wrong.

The store where I purchased the DW replaced the entire front stainless panel and it seems to have done the trick. Reading these posts make me so angry. Bosch is disreputable for producing an inferior product and not standing behindit. I agree with others. If not for the cheap, plastic parts, the DW is quiet and cleans well.

I got a quote from an appliance repair company for $500 to replace the fascia panel that costs $95. It does clean the dishes well but I would never buy a Bosch again. I was surprised when I noticed a crack. I have owned dishwashers over 40 years and have never had this happen. It's a flaw in the design but they continue to have a recessed handle that cracks. I have always bought Miele but since I was buying appliances for my winter home I thought that a less costly dishwasher would be a good option. A $500 repair is not what I had intended when I made my purchase. I have had my Miele dishwasher at home for 17 years and have only had 1 small repair over this period. I will never buy any Bosch products. Shame on them.

Linda

I am glad to see this old post, It is 2018 and I have had my Bosch SHX55R for 5.5 years. My plastic endcaps also crumbled/cracked off through no fault of our own. Furious with their customer service. They tell me they have not heard of this affecting anyone else. I said that is not possible. Now Bosch is on my, never buy again list.

I bought my Bosch Diswasher in jan 2016 and the end cap broke off a few weeks ago. The other side is cracked and will surely break as well. I though I was buying a decent product considering the money I spent. I also though Bosch would have better customer service. It’s not covered by my four year extended warranty plan. Total garbage. Not sure what to do now. Will never buy this product again.

5/2018 and I have the same problem. my 2 year old Bosch DW is developing hairline cracks on plastic endcaps of dish towel handel. I have a extended warranty that is telling me its cosmetic and not covered.. I bought Bosch DW because of the reputation, my other appliances are Maytag. I should have saved myself some money and just stuck with Maytag. My beautiful new kitchen and an ugly dishwasher that i paid alot of money for. Never again! I am adding Bosch to my never buy again list as well.

2018 and its still happening

this is my 2 year old Bosch dishwasher used by a one person household. told its not under warranty from the previous post ive read seems like defective material used by Bosch. Im not happy

I will say after I posted on Twitter and FB with pictures complaining, I got a very quick response from Bosch. They sent out a technician and replaced the entire bar end caps and all free of charge. I am happy, but as for the replacement I will see if these stay in one piece. Bosch also told me they have not heard of this being a problem, then I told them about this thread. I told them I would go online and tell my outcome and how quick they were to resolve.but I think Social media is the answer.

Wish I had done this. They absolutely know about problem and continue to make the same design.

Nobody responded to me from Bosch. I found the parts which were inexpensive and we had to play technician taking the entire panel off the door to replace them...it will eventually happen again...they are plastic.

I watched repair man fix these with fully anticipating it happening again, I will now know how to replace myself

We are both in our mid to late 50s, have a Bosch dishwasher with an inset handle and average about 3 loads of dishes per week. The performance of the appliance is outstanding with the exception of the handle which I have replaced twice in less than 5 years.

exactly, the DW is fantastic. Its a shame that they would really risk its reputation on something so trivial and easy design fix by company. I will see how long my new endcaps last. This could be such a non problem if Bosch would just address and stop ignoring

Same problem. Same frustration. We bought a lovely set of Bosch appliances in summer 2017. We called early in 2018 when plastic end caps on towel rack style handle of dishwasher SHX877WD5N suddenly, inexplicably shattered bit by bit and scattered on the floor. Since still under warranty, that repair was done for no cost. Six months later, one month out of warranty period, they again crumbled. Cost of new parts was negligible, service call $145 (the entire door has to be disassembled). Six months later they AGAIN crumbled. I ordered the parts BUT did not pay another service call because just then I saw that the FOUR handles on the refrigerator were all showing the same cracks. Bosch informed me the entire handle assembly - at a cost of $250 per handle - was only fix. APPALLED that such expensive and well engineered appliances should be rendered useless for want of proper engineering or material of a minor part -

we will replace them after only TWO years.

Bosch customer service was not interested in my suggestion that they could redesign the end caps using metal for only an incremental increase in cost. We will NOT buy BOSCH ever again.

Amazing what you can find on the internet. I have the SAME exact problem with my dishwasher. Only, it is isn't Bosch it is GE. Handle has plastic endcaps, which of course after owning it only a few months, first started to crack and then just crumbled. GE came to replace it under warranty. It was not so easy to replace, he had to take the door apart. I said there is no way it will last. He said it will, he has never heard of this problem. How can you make a piece like that out of plastic? Well, it has been a few months, I took a look and sure enough, it has started to develop a crack again. I got an extended warranty on it because of this. I am sure I will be using it plenty of times. Who designs these things???

I, too, have a Bosch d/w which we love and about 8 months or so after install the handle on ours cracked. Bosch told us to contact our service company. Company came out and repaired it. Later the new handle started cracking and this time the service company never came out. Very frustrating but love the d/w anyway.

My dishwasher is a few years old with an inset handle. More and more cracks showing up. Otherwise everything is fine. This was not a cheap dishwasher. I see from this thread this has been going on for years. I can't understand why they haven't fixed this. My ladt Bosch appliance.

I have had to replace the handle twice. A third time and Bosch will likely not be the brand name on our next dishwasher. Such a shame as otherwise it's probably been the best dishwasher that I've ever had.

I have a cracked end cap as well with a 3 year old model

I have a bosch d/w - 4 years old. my problem is that the circuit board with the controls is plastic but the problem is that the stalks where the screws are insertedbreak off resulting in the panel hanging off. bosch customer service is not much better than useless. They tell me to buy a new part from them for over £50 and get a professional to install. By the time I do this it would be better to buy a new d/w for not much more money from any other company but NOT bosch. The worst feature is the the washer works very well. Complaints of this nature really do not bode well for bosch if they continue to produce such crap products. I will certainly be telling everyone NOT to buy any bosch product

Hello, I'm having the same issue. Great dishwasher, but cheaper out on this part. I have had warranty to send me 4. All cracked! Now it's in a investigation. I was thinkingvto ask them if they have a universal handle with no plastic. Plastic is bound to break against steel. No comparable.

11/09/2022: Same EXACT thing happened to me. Several months ago I looked and I noticed the righthand side of the handle was missing the plastic on the side. I was totally puzzled because I never saw the missing piece anywhere. now this morningironing, i heard something hit the tile floor and it was the lefthand side of the handle’s plastic piece! I googled the problem and found all these comments.

It seems to me that bosch knows all about the problem and has done for years but done nothing about it. outr outrageous. we could do with starting a joint court action against bosch

We have four bosch appliances and they all exibit a hairline crack on the extensions that hold the handles replaced 6 of them right after we purchased them but they continue to crack any advise appreciated.

i do know what is making these end caps to crack and break. The steam that escapes from the dishwasher causes these cheap plastic end caps to become brittle and crack. it is nothing the customers are doing to cause this. The material is not strong enough to withstand the hest. Bosch even mentions it on their website. You can buy a “skin cover” and a kit that will replace the skin with the handle. I am going to do this and the parts and skin are around $200-250. This is worth it to me, as the dishwasher does a grest job! i am going on my fourth set of end caps and my dishwasher is only a year old! I was accused by the repaiman of banging into the handles to cause the end caps to break. He also said it isnt happening to anyone else. Im so done with those end caps! Good luck everyone!

I have had the same problems. i also have a hedge trimmer from bosch that has problems. I tried phoning bosch but I its like talking to a brick wall. I am considering approaching the BBC programme Watchdog to see if they can some sense out of bosch

So an update to my post about changing the oitside door skin, unfortinately the models are different and there is no place to screw the handle into. Seeing its the steam that is making the end caps brittlke and break, now when I run my dishwasher I am insulating the end caps with a piece of paper towel wrapped around them and topped off with aluminum foil! We will see if this keeps them from cracking!