The Freelander 1 is permanent 4WD. There is no centre diff or transfer box. The drive to the rear is taken from the OS of the Getrag 5 speed box (td4 only) by the IRD. This is just there to provide a ever-so-slightly geared down output to the rear prop. The rear prop has a temperamental viscous coupling in it to act as the centre diff to prevent tyre skip during cornering. The viscous coupling can be tested by jacking one rear wheel off the ground with the handbrake off (taking precautions to prevent the vehicle rolling away) and trying to turn the wheel off the ground. It takes a little effort but you should be able to rotate the wheel. If it spins freely the rear prop has been removed! Which is fairly common as the viscous coupling generally isn’t financially viable to replace now the Freelander is getting to the cheaper end of the market.
The tyres are beat replaced in vehicle sets to avoid any overslip of the viscous coupling, or unwanted tyre skip during car park manoeuvring.
The td4 engine is generally good, when I was in the dealerships when they were current vehicles the injectors were replaced quite regularly as was the clutch and flywheel if used as a ‘shopping trolley’. They have quite a weak clutch for a 4WD vehicle and don’t like being slipped while at a standstill, bad driving practice anyway.
The window regulator mechanisms are quite weak, if one fails get a genuine replacement, the aftermarket ones are not up to the job and fail quite quickly.
The sunroof cables also break, when they snap it can make the motor gear skip on the cable rack, which quickly wrecks the motor.
One important thing to mention, the BMW td4 engine has a breather filter, which Land Rover called the cyclone filter. This lives in the top of the rocker cover. It is essential that this is replaced at regular intervals, if using the filter type set up every 12 months at average miles. There was an aftermarket replacement involving fitting the filter BMW used, which didn’t require replacement and was fitted for life. I don’t think they were expensive either, makes a worthwhile upgrade. If the filter is blocked through not being replaced it pressurises the crankcase, leading to turbo failure, blowing the dipstick out and dropping oil everywhere or running away on its own oil.