We investigate the electric transport and the magnetic properties of Cr n V s Cr n systems with respect to the thickness of the V layer. The trilayers are grown in the (001) direction and covered with bcc Fe electrodes. For thin Cr layers we observe a quadratic decrease of the magnetic moments with decreasing distance to the V layer. In the case of thick Cr layers the magnetic structure changes to a spin-density wave. The magnetoresistances of the V-containing systems are reduced compared with Fe/Cr/Fe trilayers of the same spacer thickness, whereby this effect is most drastic for current in-plane geometry. The calculations are performed within the fully relativistic screened Korringa–Kohn–Rostoker method to obtain magnetic and electronic properties. The giant magnetoresistance is investigated within the fully relativistic Kubo–Greenwood approach.