I was driving my 2003 Audi A6 3.0 quattro on Thursday 04/03/2008 around 10:30pm. I was traveling 25mph on sylvan avenue in englewood cliffs, NJ the check engine light illuminated on my dash board and started flashing, I immediately pulled over to the side of the road to diagnose the problem, when I pulled over I saw smoke coming out from under the hood of my car. I immediately turned of the vehicle and popped the hood to see what was going on... I popped the hood to find the ignition coil on the third cylinder (back left cylinder) had started on fire with about 12inches of flames. Thank god this all happened I about 30 seconds and I was able to get the fire out, otherwise the whole car would have burned to the ground. If I was stuck in traffic or on the highway this car would have most definitely burned to the ground. I feel very lucky my two year old daughter was not in the car with me. Nevertheless, the ignition coil is completely melted as well as the wiring harness. I always have done all the manufacturer recommendations on the vehicle and the car was just at the dealer service center on 04/01/2008 for maintenance, I had them look over the whole car and they said everything was fine. After speaking to service technicians at Audi I have found this to be a commonly recurring problem with their ignition coils, specifically pertaining to the third cylinder, they claim it overheats because the design is to close to the catalytic converter. All I know is something should be done, I have pictures of the damage where you can clearly see some type of electrical malfunction that I would be more then willing to share. Please someone do something before a life is lost from this manufacturer error.!!!

- Cresskill, NJ, USA