The BMW 340, subsequently rebadged as the EMW 340, was a large six cylinder

Straight-6

The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...

 four door passenger saloon produced at Eisenach

Automobilwerk Eisenach

The Automobilwerk Eisenach was an automobile manufacturer in Eisenach, Germany.-Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach:Heinrich Ehrhardt founded the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach in Eisenach on 3 December 1896 as a stock company...

 initially in the name of BMW

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

. Five door 340 station wagons were also manufactured. It was described in 1948 as the first new car model produced in Germany after the war: despite new body panels, under the skin it was a modified version of the BMW 326

BMW 326

The BMW 326 is a relatively rapid medium sized sedan produced by the Bavarian firm between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly after 1945. It had an innovative design and sold well despite its relatively high price...

 with which it shared its engine and wheelbase, and which had originally been commercialised in 1936. The 326 had nevertheless been an innovative and well regarded product and the 340, which incorporated several improvements, was seen as a desirable car well into the 1950s. Early years were dogged by disputes centred on ownership of the plant where it was assembled and its manufacturers’ rights to use the BMW

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

 name. The cars later appeared badged as EMW 340s, and it was under this name that 340s continued to be sold until at least 1953.

A coupé version, originally launched in 1937 as the BMW 327

BMW 327

The BMW 327 is a medium sized touring coupé produced by the Bavarian firm between 1937 and 1941, and again produced after 1945. It sat on a shortened version of the BMW 326 chassis.-Launch:...

, was also reintroduced after the war and produced in parallel with the 340 until approximately 1955, badged in its final years as the EMW 327.

The Eisenach Plant

BMW became a manufacturer of commercially viable automobiles when late in 1928 they acquired the business of Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach A.G. whose assets included a manufacturing facility at Eisenach

Eisenach

Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...

 then engaged in manufacturing under licence British designed Austin 7s

BMW 3/15

The BMW 3/15 was BMW's first car, produced in four versions from December 1927 to early 1932. 18,976 BMW 3/15s were manufactured between 1929 and 1932.- 3/15 DA-1 :...

. During the 1930s BMW automobile production blossomed: the Eisenach plant was throughout this period BMW's volume automobile manufacturing facility.

In 1945 the town was occupied by American forces, but by then it had already been agreed

Potsdam Agreement

The Potsdam Agreement was the Allied plan of tripartite military occupation and reconstruction of Germany—referring to the German Reich with its pre-war 1937 borders including the former eastern territories—and the entire European Theatre of War territory...

 between the allies that the whole of Thuringen would fall within the Soviet occupation zone: transfer of the region to the Soviets took place in July 1945. It seemed likely that BMW’s manufacturing facility would be crated up and taken by rail to the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 as part of the substantial post war reparations package. In the meantime, surviving workers returning from the war recommenced production, and a small number of the 326

BMW 326

The BMW 326 is a relatively rapid medium sized sedan produced by the Bavarian firm between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly after 1945. It had an innovative design and sold well despite its relatively high price...

s were assembled following that car's prewar design. Albert Seidler, the man in charge of Eisenach motor bike production, demonstrated the smaller 321

BMW 321

The BMW 321 is a compact six cylinder sedan sedan produced by the Bavarian firm between 1938 and 1941. After 1945, production resumed at the Eisenach plant: 321s were built again between approximately 1945 and 1950, probably in greater numbers than before the war.-The launch:The 321 was introduced...

 model to Marshall Zhukov

Georgy Zhukov

Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...

 and secured from him an order for five new cars.

The future of the Eisenach plant was a contentious issue in the uncertainty of late 1945. Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 based BMW’s attempts to recover their plant were not sympathetically received by the occupiers, who evidently were mindful of BMW’s wartime role as manufacturers of engines for war planes. Nevertheless, in November 1945 the plant received from the Russians an order for a further 3000 cars and motor bikes, and less than one year later, in September 1946, the plant was integrated into the Soviet AWO business entity: for Eisenach, membership of the command economy had begun.

The birth

By late 1948 the 340 had been developed to production readiness. It shared the 287 cm (113 in) wheelbase and central body section of the 326

BMW 326

The BMW 326 is a relatively rapid medium sized sedan produced by the Bavarian firm between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly after 1945. It had an innovative design and sold well despite its relatively high price...

, but the bonnet / hood had been squared off, with the headlights more fully integrated into the front wings. A front grill comprising horizontal metal slats in the form of an approximate semi triangle followed the contemporary styling trend apparent in other designs including that of the Peugeot 203

Peugeot 203

The Peugeot 203 is a medium sized car which was produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot between 1948 and 1960.The car was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show in 1947, but by then had already been under development for more than five years...

 launched around the same time as the BMW 340.

The rear quarters of the car were also reworked. Inspired by trends that had taken place in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 earlier in the decade, the 340 received an external trunk / boot

Trunk (automobile)

The trunk or boot of an automobile or car is the vehicle's main storage, luggage, or cargo compartment. Trunk is used in North American English and Jamaican English; boot is used elsewhere in the English speaking world. Trunk is also primarily used in many non-English speaking regions, such as...

 lid, permitting users to access luggage without needing to fold down the back seat rest and struggle to access the space behind it. The spare wheel was relocated from its traditional position (attached to the car’s rear panel) to a flat stowage location beneath a wooden ‘false floor’ in the boot / trunk. Stowed with the spare wheel was a ‘breakdown’ kit that included a jack and an air pump. The tool kit delivered with the car also incorporated an inner tire / tyre tube and a special key for bleeding any air pockets out of the brake fluid.

The interior configuration broadly followed that of the 326 initially. In later models the individual front seats were replaced by a single bench seat, and available seating space was further increased by the deletion of the central arm rest from the rear bench seat.

Technical

A modified carburettor was fitted and claimed power output from the 1971 cc straight 6 engine rose to 55 bhp. Power output subsequently increased further to 57 bhp.

Mechanically the 340 carried forward some of its predecessor’s advanced features. The four speed gear box of the 326 reappeared in the 340: however, the cable linkage, which in use had proven damage prone, was replaced with a more robust rod linkage system.

A particularly intriguing component in the engine bay was a mechanical self cleaning oil filter. Sited above the clutch pedal, the device employed a scraper attached to a ratchet which moved progressively, driven a little further with each successive operation of the clutch pedal.

The engine block was water cooled using a radiator that most 21st century car owners minded to lift the hood / bonnet would instantly recognised as such. But here, too, the approach was not entirely conventional. Possibly reflecting the colder winter temperatures routinely experienced in central and eastern Europe, the radiator was protected on its outer face by a blind which could be raised or lowered from the driver's seat, a device also employed on certain Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n automobiles. In cold weather the driver was able to minimise the quantity of cold air passing through the radiator by completely lowering the radiator-blind. This minimised the period during which the engine operated below its efficient operating speed. Informed by a facia mounted engine temperature gauge, the driver was able to anticipate and avoid the risk of overheating by raising the radiator blind as the engine approached its efficient operating temperature

Operating temperature

An operating temperature is the temperature at which an electrical or mechanical device operates. The device will operate effectively within a specified temperature range which varies based on the device function and application context, and ranges from the minimum operating temperature to the...

 of 80 °C (176 °F).

Cars sold from 1952 also featured a fuel based passenger cabin heater. In order to ignite the heater it was necessary first to open a small tap in the engine bay, after which the flow of hot air could be regulated using a control in the footwell on the passenger's side.

In recognition that the 340 had been developed in haste, under sub-optimal conditions, several early ‘production prototype’ level cars were subjected to a 10,000 kilometer marathon test run. The successful conclusion of this testing constituted a public demonstration of the manufacturer's confidence that the car was ready for serial production, which commenced in 1949.

Production and commercialisation

In the 1930s the 326 had been seen as a compact executive model, but by 1948 steel was in short supply. European cars had shrunk along with the disposal incomes of consumers. At a time when Mercedes Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 automobile production was almost entirely restricted to four cylinder Mercedes Benz 170

Mercedes-Benz W136

The Mercedes-Benz W136 was Mercedes-Benz's line of four-cylinder automobiles from the mid-1930s into the 1950s. It became the foundation on which the company rebuilt after World War II because the tooling had survived Allied bombing....

 models, the larger six cylinder BMW 340 found itself with a design and specifications that qualified it for a more elevated market place status.

Volume auto producers depended on a network of specialist suppliers for components and subassemblies: 340 production highlighted new challenges arising from the increasingly apparent political division of Germany. In June 1948 the Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

 based Bank deutscher Länder

Bank deutscher Länder

The Bank deutscher Länder , abbreviation BdL, was the forerunner of the Deutsche Bundesbank. It was founded on 1 March 1948....

 launched the Deutsche Mark and the authorities in the Soviet occupation zone facing a sudden and unwelcome currency crisis

Currency crisis

A currency crisis, which is also called a balance-of-payments crisis, is a sudden devaluation of a currency caused by chronic balance-of-payments deficits which usually ends in a speculative attack in the foreign exchange market. It occurs when the value of a currency changes quickly, undermining...

, were forced to introduce the Ostmark

East German mark

The East German mark commonly called the eastern mark , in East Germany only Mark, was the currency of the German Democratic Republic . Its ISO 4217 currency code was DDM...

. Prior to 1990

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

, mutual convertibility was not a feature of the relationship between eastern and western Marks, and this, together with the development of physical and political barriers between east and west, left the Eisenach plant cut off from key suppliers now located in western Germany. The firm was obliged to switch suppliers or to manufacture components in house, often dependent on detailed instructions provided by former suppliers of 326

BMW 326

The BMW 326 is a relatively rapid medium sized sedan produced by the Bavarian firm between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly after 1945. It had an innovative design and sold well despite its relatively high price...

 components. Where instructions or component supplies were delayed, production came to a halt. Difficulties over component supply led understandably to problems involving quality defects.

Despite these quality issues, 340s were sold in major central European export markets and west of the iron curtain

Iron Curtain

The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...

, especially in the western zones of Germany. Customers tended to look to BMW in Munich to rectify manufacturing defects when these showed up in the Eisenach models. The matter became increasingly a thorn in the side of the Munich firm who in the 1940s had no automobile manufacturing facility of their own up and running, and who were in no position to influence Eisenach product quality. Many 340s were also sent to the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, where the survivors among them are well regarded by enthusiasts.

The 340 continued to find itself at the centre of a complex interplay between political, legal and commercial disputes. In November 1950 a judgement of the state court at Düsseldorf threatened to imperil the Eisenach enterprise's access to much prized western convertible currency if the plant continued to sell the 340 as a BMW. It appears that after July 1952 no 340s were sold as BMWs, at least in western markets. The BMW 340 turned up badged as the EMW 340, the familiar blue-white roundel badge replaced with a similarly shaped red-white one. (The B in BMW stood for Bayerische/Bavarian: the E in EMW stood for Eisenacher.) In eastern Germany and Poland, and several of the smaller other Soviet controlled brother-states, the cars continued for some time to be sold as BMWs, possibly in order to use up existing stocks of BMW badges and wheel trims.

The plant which in 1945 had come under the control of the Russians fell progressively under the control of the new east German state

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...

during the ensuing ten years. In 1953 the business was renamed VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach. The government was mindful of the need to avoid being seen to fall behind western Germany which was now evolving into an aggressively consumerist phase. For Berlin, quantity of automobile production became the priority, and small two stroke engined cars could be produced in greater numbers than large four stroke six cylinder sedans. The last 340 was probably built in 1953, though its coupé sibling continued to be offered for a further two years.