A method for determining the alignment of a motor vehicle wheel, comprising the steps of: attaching a three-dimensional target on the vehicle wheel (326, 328, 330, 332), the three-dimensional target comprising a three-dimensional structure arranged adjacent a planar surface, the three-dimensional structure and the planar surface having a certain relative spatial relationship, wherein each of the three-dimensional structure and the planar surface has thereon at least one target element of a plurality of target elements (216; 217a to 217d) having known geometric characteristics and the target elements are configured in 3D space in accordance with known three-dimensional relationships with each other; detecting, from a 2D image of the three-dimensional target acquired by a camera (310, 312), a plurality of target element images corresponding to the plurality of target elements (216; 217a to 217d) including the at least one target element on the three-dimensional structure and the at least one target element on the planar surface; and determining the alignment of the wheel based on a spatial orientation of the three-dimensional target determined by identifying a minimum in a cost function of six independent parameters describing a spatial orientation of the three-dimensional target relative to the camera by adjusting the independent parameters with respect to 2D projected features of the target elements (216; 217a to 217d) of the three-dimensional target having the known three-dimensional relationships with each other; and computing the orientation of the target based on the adjusted independent parameters. attaching a three-dimensional target on the vehicle wheel (326, 328, 330, 332), the three-dimensional target comprising a three-dimensional structure arranged adjacent a planar surface, the three-dimensional structure and the planar surface having a certain relative spatial relationship, wherein each of the three-dimensional structure and the planar surface has thereon at least one target element of a plurality of target elements (216; 217a to 217d) having known geometric characteristics and the target elements are configured in 3D space in accordance with known three-dimensional relationships with each other; detecting, from a 2D image of the three-dimensional target acquired by a camera (310, 312), a plurality of target element images corresponding to the plurality of target elements (216; 217a to 217d) including the at least one target element on the three-dimensional structure and the at least one target element on the planar surface; and determining the alignment of the wheel based on a spatial orientation of the three-dimensional target determined by identifying a minimum in a cost function of six independent parameters describing a spatial orientation of the three-dimensional target relative to the camera by adjusting the independent parameters with respect to 2D projected features of the target elements (216; 217a to 217d) of the three-dimensional target having the known three-dimensional relationships with each other; and computing the orientation of the target based on the adjusted independent parameters. identifying a minimum in a cost function of six independent parameters describing a spatial orientation of the three-dimensional target relative to the camera by adjusting the independent parameters with respect to 2D projected features of the target elements (216; 217a to 217d) of the three-dimensional target having the known three-dimensional relationships with each other; and computing the orientation of the target based on the adjusted independent parameters.