I have a '99 V70 AWD with 199,000 kms and just had the driveshafts removed. I live in Canada and found the AWD with my old tires did not do much for me in the snow anyways. To offset this, I put on a new set of Nokian WR's which I'm sure will be better with FWD only versus the old tires with AWD. Time will tell.
Fortunately, I found a good Volvo mechanic who knows what he's doing, and marked all the bolts etc. first, then saved everything. He did a couple of other things at the same time (upper engine mount and tie rod end) and now the car seems great - nimble and true. I had some vibration, especially when turning slowly, but now it's gone, and the car runs great. Since I bought it 3 years ago, I've always felt great driving it. Now it's great to drive too!