Purchasing advise for E420 wagon '98-2001

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I must admit to knowing nothing about gas powered MB's as I've only owned diesels.

We have a need for a wagon, similar in size to our current Volvo V70. I'm looking at E420 4-matics. Most likely years are 1998 - 2001 based solely on purchase cost. I've recently read about spring perch issues on the front end. Are there any other significant problems I should be aware of for these vehicles? I would expect they are OK in the snow but I've heard the distribution is 20 front 80% rear........that just doesn't sound like the best power split.

Any help / advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You