The BMW 326 is a 4-door saloon / 2 & 4-door cabriolets from Bmw, built from 1936 to 1946, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Under the bonnet: 1971 . Engineers: Fritz Fiedler, Alfred Böning / Stylist: Peter Szymanowski drew it.
Where it came from
The BMW 326 is a medium-sized sedan produced by BMW between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly, under Soviet control, after 1945. The 326 was BMW's first four-door sedan. It had an innovative design and sold well despite its relatively high price. It also had an unusually involved afterlife.
Under the skin
Power comes from 1971 . It weighs 1100 kg. It shifts through a 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2870 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the BMW 319; its successor was the BMW/EMW 340; assembly was at Eisenach. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Chevrolet Suburban, the Bugatti Type 57, the Volkswagen Beetle — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Bmw catalogue sit the BMW 116 and the BMW 269.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the BMW 326 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.