The visitors applied plenty of pressure in the opening stages with Julian Brandt sending his effort over after Maximilian Beier had got a touch on Donyell Malen’s cross.
Wolfsburg had their own moments, and a brave header from Ramy Bensebaini was required to stop Mohamed Amoura’s bicycle kick attempt. Even so, Dortmund largely remained on top without capitalising as Brandt and Serhou Guirassy both missed the target from promising positions.
Dortmund were unstoppable once they found the opener, when Bensebaini’s corner found Malen in space for the Dutchman to mark his first start in five matches across all competitions with a goal.
Brandt then threaded the ball through for Beier to send a shot in off the post with the outside of his boot, before Beier returned the favour by picking out Brandt who effortlessly stroked the ball into the bottom corner for his side’s third goal in just five minutes.
Mattias Svanberg’s header brought out an instinctive save from Gregor Kobel at the other end, though Dortmund remained dominant heading into the break.
Ralph Hasenhüttl responded with an attacking double change ahead of the restart, and Lukas Nmecha was played through within five minutes of his introduction but was outfoxed by Kobel.
Amoura also wasted an opportunity by smashing his attempt over the crossbar, but Die Wölfe kept coming and got their goal before the hour mark, with Denis Vavro authoritatively rising to head in Maximilian Arnold’s corner delivery.
Already unsettled, Dortmund then went down to 10 men when Pascal Groß brought Nmecha down as he ran through.
Waves of pressure followed, but Kobel palmed Arnold’s venomous strike from range away as Dortmund finally earned their first away Bundesliga win of the season at the seventh attempt, while also ending their five-game winless run across all competitions.
The result also saw Wolfsburg suffer back-to-back league defeats for the first time since September having gone unbeaten in their previous eight competitive fixtures.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund)