In 1972, Milberg became senior manager at the machine tool factory
Gildemeister AG. From 1978 to 1981, he was head of the Automatic
Lathe Division. In 1981, Milberg became full professor for
machine tools with
business administration at Technische Universität München, head of the Center for Production Automation and Robotics in Munich and the Production Application Center in Augsburg. From 1991 to 1993, he was Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. In 1993, Milberg became member of the board of management of BMW, responsible for production. After having just overseen the successful launch of the
BMW 3 Series, he was named by the supervisory board of BMW – then led by
Eberhard von Kuenheim – as the company’s new CEO in 1999. He succeeded
Bernd Pischetsrieder, who resigned along with
Wolfgang Reitzle, another manager widely viewed as potential successor at the time. He was heavily criticized by the German media for BMW's decision to sell its unprofitable U.K. subsidiary
Rover in 2000. In 2002, he decided to step down a year ahead of schedule and handed over to
Helmut Panke, in an effort to avoid media speculation about who would succeed him in what would be the final year of his tenure at BMW. He subsequently became chairman of the supervisory board in 2004. ==Other activities==