History of BMW- WW2 Ended but now ours!- http://www.autosmithcar.com/

BMW AG was heavily bombed towards the end of the war, reducing most of the company's production facilities to rubble. In fact, by the end of the war, the Munichplant was completely destroyed.[37] BMW sites in eastern Germany (Eisenach-Dürrerhof, Wandlitz-Basdorf and Zühlsdorf) were seized by the Soviets.
After the war the Munich factory took some time to restart production in any volume. BMW was banned from manufacturing motor vehicles by the Allies. During this ban, BMW used basic secondhand and salvaged equipment to make pots and pans, later expanding to other kitchen supplies and bicycles. Permission to manufacture motorcycles was granted to BMW by United States authorities in 1947, and production of the R24 began in 1948.[38]
In the east, the company's factory at Eisenach was taken over by the Soviet Awtowelo group.[38][39] Production of the R35 motorcycle was restarted in 1945,[39] with the 321 automobile following late that year.[40][39] A mildly revised 327 entered production in 1948, followed by the 326-based 340 in 1949. These were sold under the BMW name with the BMW logo affixed to them.[41] To protect its trademarks, BMW AG legally severed its Eisenach branch from the company. Awtowelo continued production of the 327 and 340 under the Eisenacher Motorenwerk(EMW) brand with a red and white version of the logo until 1955.[38]
In the west, the Bristol Aeroplane Company (BAC) inspected the factory, and returned to Britain with plans for the 327 model and the six-cylinder engine as official war reparations. Bristol then employed BMW engineer Fritz Fiedler to lead their engine development team. In 1947, the newly formed Bristol Cars released their 400 coupé, a lengthened version of the BMW 327. that featured BMW's double-kidney grille.[42]
While Alfred Böning had returned to BMW and developed the R24[38] and Fritz Fiedler had gone to work for Bristol,[42] Alex von Falkenhausen and Ernst Loof had each started companies that built sports cars and racing cars. Von Falkenhausen started Alex von Falkenhausen Motorenbau (AFM), while Loof, in partnership with Georg Meier and Lorenz Dietrich, started Veritas. AFM and Veritas both competed in Formula 2, but both companies had shut down operations by 1954, when both von Falkenhausen and Loof went back to BMW.[43][44]

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