There's an interesting story about the 340 model. It was manufactured in BMW's largest factory in Eisenach, which fell behind the Iron Curtain after World War II when the Soviets occupied eastern Germany. BMW models were manufactured here until 1952 which — just like this car — were based on pre-war models. The BMW 340 was a very luxurious car with its fine interior and six-cylinder, two-liter engine inherited from the representative 326. The model had many technical features such as self-cleaning oil filters. Today there are not many copies left of the 340 model with the BMW brand in the nose.
After World War II, the Eisenach factory is taken over by the Soviet occupying power and BMW never got the factory back until later. The plant instead becomes a state-owned company in the GDR. In Eisenach the production of BMW cars continues, but in 1952 BMW managed to stop the use of its own brand. This then leads to the birth of the East German car brand EMW - Eisenacher Motoren-Werke which later became IFA- Wartburg.
In the 1950s, BMW in West Germany was plunged into a severe economic crisis. This was not only because the factory in Eisenach had been occupied. The main reason was that the company did not build any profitability in models such as the large expensive Baroque Angel 501, the beautiful sports car 507 and the luxury car 503. BMW understood the problems and bought a license from Italy for the production of the microcar Isetta which becomes a huge success. But by the end of the 1950s, BMW was still on the brink of ruin and was about to be sold off to rival Daimler-Benz. However, the economic problems were reversed in the 1960s and since then the Group has experienced great success.
