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99s came with double row bearings and these had failure rates if <1%. It was the single row cars that saw higher rates.
Your maintenance suggestions are spot on, but you face a double whammy.
The root cause of the problem seems to be when the bearing seals allow the lubricating grease to wash out over time but don't allow enough oil back in to adequately lubricate the bearing. When this happens, the bearing - whether single or double row - will fail.
Seals can degrade on high AND low mileage cars. Whammy 1: seals in high mileage cars just plain wear and eventually leak. It's a question of when. Whammy 2: seals in low mileage cars start to leak when acids in the oil degrade them when part of the seal just sits in the oil.
If your buying a high mileage car, you'll probably need a clutch soon so just replace the bearing at that time. If your buying a low mileage car, the calculus is harder b/c you just won't know the condition of the seals. Then you just hope the <1% stands up
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