EPC access for full members living outside of the US

[andyburns]

 Incidentally if any of you are ever down in New Zealand it would be my privilege to pick you up from the airport in my little 113.... if I ever get it finished that is.    

[Tomnistuff]

Continuing with the subject discussion, "EPC access for full members living outside of the US", Andy Burns mentioned in reply #6 the MBNZ access to the EPC.  I responded in reply #17 that I ran up against a payment  agreement that I had to sign and a EU residency that I had to claim to get access, neither of which I was prepared to do.

Rolf-Dieter offered a link to MBCanada that I used my MBUSA Club Card info to access.  It worked fine, but when I tried to access the EPC through MBCanada, I ran up against the same website with the same agreement that I previously encountered.  I refuse to lie about my residency.  If they don't care where we live, just that we are MB Club members, then they should change their contract wording so that we feel welcome.  It's still written for Europeans only.

Andy, likewise if you get to Quebec, Canada, contact me.

Tom Kizer

[andyburns]

Tom,

I paid an annual subscription to MB USA club to get access to the EPC.  I discovered that they use a technique to block IP addresses not from that country.  It was a waste of 70 dollars US.

The link I posted earlier is free and there are no restrictions at all.  It doesn't have the bells and whistles but certainly serves the purpose.  I think you should have another look.  If you have trouble I am happy to help out. 

My father was heavily involved in the MB Club of NZ which is how I got involved with the brand.  As well as being the president at one point he was also the membership guy.  I asked him last night how it all works and his reply was as follows: 

Normal club membership has nothing to do with the access to the MB member portal which EPC is hosted within.  Each year the car club asks the local member base if anyone would like access to it.  Most of the clubs member base here in NZ are quite senior or non technical and as a consequence hardly anyone responds.  Once a list has been compiled its sent to Germany and within a month or two a club card is mailed directly to the club members along with an initial username and password to get in.  The membership is valid for only 12 months and has to be renewed on a yearly basis.  If you miss the cut off point it seems that you have to wait for a further 12 months. ie Mercedes only seems to accept applications within a certain time period each year.

The subscription gives you access to not only EPC but a full copy of WIS and also pdf versions of the factory classic magazine which is printed once every 3 to 4 months.  Quite a nice publication which recently had a cover spread of a very nice white 230sl in white.  This was for the 50th I think.

I can try and get some screen shots of whats on offer if your interested.



Andy

[rutger kohler]

Guys, can we just drop this please.  I asked if we could get EPC for full members and I now understand why not.  Not a problem. I like the club the way it is and don't want to see this thread degenerate into something that is not useful.

[mnahon]

Andy, as I recall, you're a programmer, so I expect you know you could use a free IP 'tunelling' (or 'VPN') service that makes it look like you're coming from a US IP. This is one: http://www.securitykiss.com/  but there are many others.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

I've written another e-mail to Herr Marcel Schuh Mercedes-Benz Classic Mercedes-Benz Club Management Club Manager Overseas. I also have come across many US web sites when one likes to order something it simply does not accept our Canadian Postal Code. So it can become very frustrating.

I've addressed that very point to Herr Marcel Schuh Mercedes-Benz Classic Mercedes-Benz Club Management Club Manager Overseas. I asked him if he can have someone check out the program to perhaps reset the data entry for the Postal Code or Zip Code once the user enters the country of origin to then accept the right country Postal Code or Zip Code.

Let us see how Herr Schuh responds, after all to ask costs nothing

[Dave H]

is this what your looking for ?
   http://www.everythingbenz.com/z/mtype/113044-mercedes-chassis-schematics-drawings

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi Dave ... while it is the right web site, the language is unfortunately not English ...

I recieved a further reply from Mr Schuh of Mercedes-Benz after explaining to him once more how we (as Canadians) are not able to access the site due to the ZIP CODE / POSTAL CODE issue.

He writes ....

Sehr geehrter Herr S....,
 
bitte haben Sie mit der Beantwortung Ihrer Anfrage noch ein bisschen Geduld. Ich schaue einen Ansprechpartner für besagte Thematik zu finden
und das Thema bei diesem zu platzieren.
 
Ich melde mich sobald ich weitere Informationen habe.
 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen und herzlichen Dank

Marcel Schuh

Mercedes-Benz Classic
Mercedes-Benz Club Management 
Club Manager Overseas
HPC R 051
70546 Stuttgart

E-Mail: marcel.schuh@daimler.com


TRANSLATION

Dear Mr. S....,
 
Please have a little patience in answering your inquiry. I am looking to find a partner for said subject and to place the subject in this hands.
 
I will let you know as soon as I have more information.
 
Best regards and thank you

Marcel Shoe

Mercedes-Benz Classic
Mercedes-Benz Club Management
Club Manager Overseas
HPC R 051
70546 Stuttgart

END OF TRANSLATION


Stay tuned for further updates, however, I am not holding my breath on this one

Rolf-Dieter ...

PS .... Meanwhile let us enjoy our car(s) top down weather continues this week up here in the Eastern part of Canada anyway

[pj]

Dieter,
how about if we try to get MBCA-Toronto section or even MB Club of Canada to go to bat for us with MB Canada? Surely they must allow their dealers access to the EPC. Maybe they would relent for members of an "official" club. I love this forum (and I don't think we should try to become an "official" club, but that's another topic) but I don't think we can expect any special treatment from the MB corporate structure.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi Peter (pj),

For myself I just like to understand every aspect of my car (it’s just the inquisitive mind of mine needing to know the mechanical workings of all the devices). I have enough background information to accomplish just this with this forums feedback from members like Dan C. and Joe A. as well as others. In addition I do have as mentioned before the

Type 250 SL - 280 SL Model 113-CATALOG “A” - 1972 U.S. Version # 12 808

This then does fine for my needs. I only posted in this thread to respond and help the OP to see what can be done if one approaches the right people at Mercedes Headquarters. I don’t think too much will be accomplished, I say this from experience as  I so far learned that the issue is being passed on to someone else tells me that it soon will die and will be filed in some sort of “O” File and forgotten.

The bottom line is, it would be nice if everyone that owns a Pagoda could have access to the electronic parts catalogue. I don’t see why only a certain group has access to it, we all cherish this car the same way. I’ve tried to help and if indeed I get a follow up reply from Germany then I shall share it here with others. Meanwhile resources here in this forum and books and other background information I have form the 113 Model fulfill my needs.

[mbzse]

Hello all,
Any individual with a Mercedes interest can have access to the EPC. Either via your membership in a recognised M-B Club, or, you pay a fee online, yourself.
See web http://service-parts.mercedes-benz.com/dcagportal/DCAGPortal/menu.action?pageId=11
http://service-parts.mercedes-benz.com/dcagportal/DCAGPortal/menu.action?pageId=68

/hans in sweden

EPC
You can have EPC access if you pay a yearly registration fee to receive access authorization for EPC. With this fee, you are entitled to 1 year of access to all categories (MB passenger cars, MB commercial vehicles and smart).
Price EPC 
Yearly registration fee for access to MB Passenger Cars*, MB Commercial Vehicles* and smart:  18.00 € w/o VAT  21.60 Euro incl. VAT 

[Cees Klumper]

Thanks Hans - this seems to work, I was able to register as a private person and it seems a reasonably low price. However I did not complete the registration because I actually don't know what the benefit of EPC would be. If I need a part I just call or email a supplier, explain what I need and that works fine? What do we need this EPC for?

[Benz Dr.]

Thanks Hans - this seems to work, I was able to register as a private person and it seems a reasonably low price. However I did not complete the registration because I actually don't know what the benefit of EPC would be. If I need a part I just call or email a supplier, explain what I need and that works fine? What do we need this EPC for?

I'm not entirely sure that anyone does. It should give you the updated part numbers and maybe a few other things that a dealers book doesn't have. For the most part, I go to a site like K&K and find what I'm looking for there. Nothing is as good as a dealers parts book which gives you everything and you can take it with you if you have to travel.

However, for most people, they will hardly ever use it unless they are restoring a car.  I'd have to believe there are other things that someone would want more but then, maybe not.......

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

My Brother in Germany lives near this German Classic Centre and shared the web site with me where he sources some of the parts he needs for his Benz.

I've used GOOGLE to translate te site from German to English in case it is of any use to anyone here.

Click here ---> http://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mercedes-lager.de%2Fauswahl.php&act=url

Might be useful to compare prices, I expect prices to be a bit higher, perhaps not. Anyway it is a parts info site by model and motor number (without drawings).

[ctaylor738]

I've found the EPC very useful because:

- much faster when ordering parts from the dealer, just give them the part number.  If a part has been superseded, you will get the updated number
- if you need a bunch of stuff, you can create a Shopping List and print it or fax it.
- the Search function will tell you all the models that use a particular part.  Very useful when searching on ebay or other sources
- for later cars, the Datacard function will give you engine and transmission number and all of the SA codes for a particular car
- you can do a screen print and put it in an email, web posting or other document
- you can print a diagram and/or the parts list for a particular function (e.g. brakes).  You can print it to a PDF and attach it to an email or web posting
- you can take the print with you to the garage and not get your Parts Book dirty
- very easy to tell what changed from model to model, like 230 to 250, and at what VIN

[Cees Klumper]

Thanks chuck - very convincing and thorough list of benefits!