Already 1896 created Heinrich Ehrhardt in the Thuringian iron oh the "vehicle factory iron oh" and built among other things passenger cars, which were driven out starting from 1904 under the name "DIXI". The Dixi work was taken over 1928 completely by BMW. BMW built there from now on all passenger cars and shifted motorcycle production likewise 1942 to iron oh. With end of war the work was destroyed to 60%. It aroused rapidly the interest of Soviet crew power nevertheless. Originally on 3 July 1945 expropriated and seized BMW work should to be dismantled. The commander in chief of the Soviet zone, marshal Schukow, decided however differently: It arranged the building of 3,000 motorcycles each and passenger car per year. The Soviets had acquired already before the war BMW licenses and were very much done of the reliable vehicles from Munich and iron oh. Starting from November 1945 the 350ccm-Einzylindermaschine "R 35" was built. R 35 in Munich Milbertshofen until 1940, afterwards one had been produced machine tools and spare parts for this machine after iron oh had paged out.

The BMWs R 35 1937 from the popular a cylinder machine "R 4" had been developed and were based constructionally in the early 30's. At that time press steel frameworks were modern, so that R 4 a rigid "Blech" framework received, which inherited R 35. In contrast to R 4 an friction-absorbed teleskopgabel possessed starting from 1937 built R the 35. The 1:6 consolidating ohv engine with 72 mm of drilling and are enough 84 mm stroke carried out bullige 14 HP with 4.500/min. In typical BMW building method the machine was laid out as transverse runners. In the left part of the crankshaft housing a tool subject was accommodated. The engine sat to the right transferred in the framework, and the crankshaft with a sliding and a ball bearing aligned with the cardan shaft to the rear wheel. Between them were a trockenkupplung and a handswitched fourgearbox, whose shift lever in the h-pattern was led according to kind of automobile in a window blind in the right knee cushion. The direct current generator supplied ignition, battery and consumer with 75 Watts.

First entire production went as Reparationsgoods into the Soviet Union. This modest production was the reopening of the building of motorcycles in Central Germany. The Eisenacher BMW work was converted on 15 September 1946 into a national corporation into Soviet possession, and firmierte from now on as "individual enterprise BMW of the Soviet corporation (SAG)" "Awtowelo". Conditions stabilized nevertheless so far that already 1946 about 1,300 and in the subsequent year already more than 2,500 R 35 could be delivered. Two years later, in the year of the foundation of the GDR, rolled over 4.000 R 35 of the assembly-line. Still with BMW emblem at the tank, now the first machines arrived into the normal sales.  

1953 were reduced the number of the protective pipes at the cylinder head to two and - which was more important - the framework received an oil-absorbed rearspring for the rear wheel. R 35/3"machine mentioned built the Thueringers still about 58,000 times, before in April 1956 production was stopped, in order to create more capacities for the automotive manufacture.