Designed by Fritz Fiedler, the 326 featured a box-section frame[5] that could readily be adapted for derivative models.

[6] The streamlined form of the body contrasted with previous relatively upright BMWs: drag was presumably reduced further by including a fixed cover over the spare wheel at the back.

[3][5] In the 326 application, it was fed by twin 26 mm Solex carburetors to produce a claimed maximum output of 50 PS (37 kW) at 3750 rpm.

The plant that BMW had originally acquired in 1929 was not fully destroyed, and it was possible for returning survivors to assemble sixteen postwar 326s.

[2] It was, perhaps, a tribute to the 326's perceived excellence, together with the skills of the workers who had struggled to revive it, that the Eisenach plant was permitted to produce the BMW design till approximately 1955, long after the Auto Union assembly facilities at nearby Zwickau had been dismantled and removed to Russia as part of the war reparations package.