mholtz, I went through this install process, and learned a few things. I'll show you what I did and hopefully it will make it easier for you.

First, the easy part... 1/8" at the sides should be fine. I used about 3/16" but it would work with 1/8".

The Bosch panel template assumes a few things. First, it assumes that you will mount the dishwasher as high as it will go, up against the bottom of the counter. And that you will mount the wood panel flush with the top of the dishwasher door. If you install it like that with a door taller than 30 1/8", it will bind at the bottom baseboard when opening. The bottom is where the problem with the taller panel occurs.

However, for best appearance you want your panel taller, to match the bottom and top of the adjacent doors and/or drawer stacks, with a consistent gap under the counter edge. You should get your panel made to that height, ignoring the 30 1/8" limit.

To make this work however, you need to mount the dishwasher lower, with the wood panel higher than the door, to allow it to fully open. It's tough to explain in words, so I made a couple of diagrams.

Example 1 is following the template directions, but a taller door binds at the bottom.

Example 2 is what I ended up doing to accommodate the taller panel.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write back and making those diagrams!

Is it safe to assume that as long as the bottom rail doesn't go beyond the adjacent cabinets (meaning the bottom of the cabinets line up perfectly) it will function properly and open all the way? Then I can decide if I want less of a gap on top, by ordering a larger panel and just installing it a little bit above the control panel?

My main thing is making sure if I keep the bottoms rails even, it will open all the way...

Thanks!

I think that as long as the bottom of the panel is no more than 30 1/8" below the top of the dishwasher door, it should open. Mine is at about 29 1/2". Then you can adjust the dishwasher height with the leveling legs and spacers at the top to align the panel with the adjacent cabinetry. That's how I understand it. You should test and verify.

If your dishwasher is already installed tight to the underside of the counter, it may need to be lowered to make it all work.

what if the toe kick is 4.5 for th rest of the kitchen? what should be the height of the panel?

I believe you can just notch out the kickplate to solve this problem.