I missed something, is your car a turbo? And how many miles on the oil now?

No oil stops all consumption. In most cases, in a mechanically sound engine, with synthetic oil consumption will be decreased. For sure volatility will be less. BUT with the first few crankcases of synthetic oil, as the oil cleans varnish and deposits consumption will actually increase, because this stuff will make it past the rings and be burned along with some oil. When this process is complete you'll know it when the oil level just stays put.

Mann filter is fine but don't keep it on longer than 4K miles or so. To swao filters: allow the car to cool and the oil to settle, then just remove and replace the filter (I like to prime the filter with fresh oil) - then top the oil up to about mid-mark on the dipstick. (I DO like to keep my oil near the top of the mark NOT over - I figure the more oil the better - as long as not overfilled!)
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http://www.fidalgo.net/~brook4/oilslubesfilters.html