Victor Reinz

About Victor Reinz

Victor Reinz is a German OE gasket and seal specialist with origins going back to 1919 in Neu-Ulm. The company is now part of Dana Incorporated, the American powertrain group, but operates as a focused German engineering brand. Victor Reinz supplies head gaskets, multi-layer steel head gaskets, manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, head bolt sets, oil-pan gaskets and the wide range of small seals and gaskets that go into an engine rebuild.

Why multi-layer steel (MLS) gasket quality matters

Modern engines use multi-layer steel head gaskets — typically 3 or 5 layers of laser-welded stainless steel with elastomeric coating. The design is unforgiving: cylinder bore embossment dimensions, coating thickness, fire ring geometry and torque-to-yield bolt sequencing all interact to produce a seal that can withstand combustion pressure for 200,000 miles. A poorly-engineered MLS gasket can leak immediately, or fail under hot-restart conditions a few months in.

Victor Reinz is one of the major OE MLS gasket suppliers in Europe (alongside Elring). For most VAG, BMW, Mercedes, Ford Europe and PSA engines, the Victor Reinz MLS gasket is the direct OE equivalent — same layer count, same coating, same fire ring geometry.

What else Victor Reinz does well

Valve cover gaskets on modern integrated rocker covers (typical of VAG and BMW) are a Victor Reinz specialty — many of the cover-gasket assemblies are sold by Victor Reinz as a complete unit because the cover is plastic and not separately serviceable. Manifold gaskets, oil pan gaskets and timing cover seals round out the engine top-end and bottom-end coverage.

When to choose Victor Reinz

For head gasket replacement on European engines — Victor Reinz and Elring are the two safest OE-equivalent choices. For valve cover gaskets and intake manifold gaskets on VAG and BMW, the Victor Reinz aftermarket part is typically the same as the OE. For a full top-end rebuild, the Victor Reinz "head set" bundles all the gaskets needed for the job.

Find Victor Reinz gaskets, seals and head bolts mapped to your vehicle by entering your registration above.

Visit the Victor Reinz site for the technical library.