What do you see as the primary goal of the central player? Your second setup would not be very good at holding possession, I don't think. I've really moved away from BWM because they usually don't care at all about holding shape. They have much higher closing down than the players around them and can mess up what you want your defense to be like. If you want the player to sit deep and break up opponent counter attacks before they get started, while recycling possession, then CM_D or DLP_D are the way to go. If you want the player running all around trying to tackle everyone, the BWM is the way to go.
IMO there is very little difference in the tactical instructions between a CM attack and an AP attack. The style they play will be mostly affected by the type of player you put there. One annoying thing is that CM-ATTACK has hard tackling by default.
I've never really used a BBM but IIRC their instructions all almost all on "sometimes". I'm not sure I should comment on that side.
Expanding on what I said, a key part of the CM vs AP argument is whether or not you want your team to focus on passing him the ball. If you see yourself as a quick counter attacking team where he will get the ball in his own half, then decide how to proceed, AP is probably good. But if most of your attacks come from slow buildup in the opponent's half, then the player will be too far forward, close to the opponents defensive line, and will be dispossessed quickly when your team forces the ball to him because he is listed as playmaker.