@Louis
If my Miele canister died, I would probably buy a mid-range (without electric wand) Miele, so that I could use my attachments collection. But if those attachments fit an Electrolux, I'd buy an Electrolux canister instead and save several hundred dollars. Because I have the S7 upright as well, I have an efficient way to clean carpets without need of a power head (yes, the old 217 Miele power head would sit around unused, but so what, it's already paid for). However, I only bought the S7 a year ago, after owning the canister since 2002, and one reason to buy the S7 was for use on carpet if the S500 canister ever died---giving me the option NOT to have to spend $1000 to replace the S5 canister. Either a mid-range 12A Miele canister (without electric wand) or a higher end Electrolux canister would do the job (assuming the Miele attachments would fit an Electrolux---I bet there are adapters for this problem).
The reason many Americans who buy Miele end up with the high end ($1000+ models) is that they need it to clean both carpet and hard floors, and you can't get the integrated "Quick Connect" electric wand to operate a power head without spending $900 minimum. There are less expensive versions, with a cord attached to the exterior of the wand that you can plug into a power head, but that would become tiresome rather quickly. But those less expensive versions would be great in a home with mostly/only hard floors, or in my case (half hard floor, half carpet) owning two vacs (one a high quality upright) eliminates the need to use a canister power head.