Free EPC? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Jetmugg · #1 07-22-2008, 04:30 PM

I went searching for the Electronic Parts Catalog today, and think I found that a 1 year subscription to the North American models is free. Is this correct? Is anyone using this service, and how has it worked for you?

SteveM.

brandlj · #2 07-22-2008, 04:35 PM

It is free and I have been using it for a while. It is excellent!!

John

MTI · #3 07-22-2008, 04:35 PM

Yes, for folks with a US mailing address (as verified by your credit card billing address), the online EPC for the USA models is free. There is still a small charge for access to the the annual Worldwide EPC catalog.

It's a Java application, so it's a bit slower but will get you what you need. There is no pricing information, so take your part numbers and put them in
THIS SITE

pawoSD · #4 07-22-2008, 04:35 PM

Yes MB made it free about 10 months ago. You only have to pay if you want "World Cars" Access.....North American is free.

Its nice to be able to look up part numbers on it and see how stuff goes together, tons of schematics. The part numbers are useful because then you can just call in an order to the dealer, saves time...etc...

Jeremy5848 · #5 07-22-2008, 04:40 PM

As it turned out, I paid for a subscription ($20/year) only a few months before the free subscription was introduced. Murphy's law strikes again! The EPC is slower than I would like and it's sometimes hard to find things -- but even the parts guy at my Mercedes dealer says that. There is a search function but it's not real good. All in all, though, it's an acceptable way to find part numbers. Although the drawings are limited and not entirely accurate, EPC can also help you figure out how things go together (and come apart!) and whether your car is missing parts such as brackets and covers, which sometimes are lost over the years.

Jeremy

Jetmugg · #6 07-22-2008, 04:41 PM

Great news there.

I think I will install the software on my "home" computer.

Do you need to have a VIN # to look up parts, or can you navigate by year and model #'s? I want to be able to cross reference some parts to determine interchangeability, sometimes for cars that I don't own.

Steve.

Jeremy5848 · #7 07-22-2008, 04:46 PM

You can do both. Put in a part number and it will show you all the vehicles that used that part. Put in a part name and it will (usually) tell you it can't find that part. Occasionally you guess right on the part name. You can also pick out a model number from a list EPC gives you. Put in a VIN and it will show you all the parts for that car.

bustedbenz · #8 07-22-2008, 04:49 PM

Just a heads-up, they aren't kidding when they say it's not compatible with macs. For whatever reason, it USED to work on mine.. but at last observation, that was no longer the case. There was a thread about it around here somewhere a month or two ago. General consensus was that even though it's a Java solution, it's still Windoze specific for some reason.

pawoSD · #9 07-22-2008, 05:35 PM

Perhaps the Java runtime doesn't have the same abilities on mac.....wouldn't be a surprise....mac's aren't worth supporting.

It is slow, but its Java....oh well. I've never had any real issues with it.

n6mod · #10 07-22-2008, 06:21 PM

Ahhh, Java. Write Once, Debug Everywhere.

Doesn't work on a Mac, though it does work fine in Parallels. All of my daily-use machines are Macs (again, thank $diety) so I took my old Windoze notebook and put it in the garage.

Between EPC and VAG-COM for the Audi, the garage computer kinda has to be Windoze.