How did i do this? ...

A friend of mine tries to start an Orc right now in Ebonheart, but he cant ... he got the same Imperial Edition like i do

You can do any race in any faction.....

Only if you have Imperial Edition of the game.

only if u have the explorer edition

imp edition just means any faction can make an imp and u get imp armor and a pet and a ring for some bonus exp.

exp pak is the one where u can be any race in any faction. its a preorder thing i thinik.

Yes you are right. The "Explorer's Edition" is the pre-order special that allows for any race in any faction. And all Imperial Editions should have included the Explorer's Edition bundled with it. Now, could that have changed after the pre-sales of the game ended? I don't know but the OP's friends situation makes it seem like it did.