According to :
oh, I guess I was unclear. what a surprise. :-O

It's important to be clear... ;-)

It *cuts* out. I'll be happily vacuuming and then it will be off.
You let it chill for awhile, hit the "on" and it runs again. seemed
almost like overheating.

Is it overheating?

This sounds like classic "motor overloaded, thermal cutout activates".

But...

You know, I thought this was a *helpful* group! there you are with a
Miele you wont' even take apart to provide information! :-P

:-P to you too ;-)

I'll go after it with a screwdriver soon- I assume that's the main
thing I'll need? and maybe a can of air?

I still haven't pulled mine part ;-), but I suggest a couple of screwdrivers,
maybe a small nutdriver or wrench, and some light oil (ie: 3 in 1).

Run the machine until it trips. Then unplug, and dismantle it to
the point where you can put your finger on the motor housing. Is it quite
hot? If NOT hot, the thermal is probably buggered, and you'll probably
have to replace the motor (the thermal cutout is usually inside the motor,
but look for doodads attached to it).

If the motor is hot, you want to look for something jamming the shaft,
jamming the blower, or blocking airflow past the motor. Try spinning
the motor by hand. Is it stiff? Why? Crud wrapped around the blower
shaft? Motor shaft stiff? Motor mounts broken/loose and motor/shaft out
of alignment? Blower rubbing something? Motor buried in crud acting as
an insulator? Motor ventilation holes plugged?

If a shaft seems stiff, a few drops of oil will probably fix it.

Don't worry about whether the vacuum airway is plugged - plugged vacuum
hoses _reduce_ the load on the motor, and the motor runs cooler.

At a guess, it'll be crud that somehow bypassed all the filters and jammed
up the blower or shaft, or the motor's bearings need a few drops of oil.

That said, our vacuum has never needed oil, so, ...

The only problems we've ever had with ours is the power head needing to
be disassembled to pull off crud, and once the hose got so stuck in the
housing it took a lot of patient fiddling to get it apart without breaking
anything. That sleeve builds up grit and can lock the hose in place. Take
the hose off periodically and hand wipe off the mating sleeve.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.